Question

In animals, cellular totipotency has been restricted only to

• A. Germinal cells
• B. Epithelial cells
• C. Zygote
• D. Zygote and early blastomeres

Answer 1

The correct option is D Zygote and early blastomeres

Totipotency of a cell is the ability of that cell to develop into a complete individual whereas pluripotency is the ability of a cell to develop into any type of cell of the body for eg. Kidney and liver cell. In animals when male and female gametes meet they lead to the formation of the zygote which can give rise to a complete individual. The zygote further divides and gives rise to blastomere which also contains totipotent cells where an individual cell can give rise to an individual. The cell till blastomere is totipotent to compensate for cell loss during preimplantation development. All the other cells of the body are pluripotent or multipotent.