Texas A&M University (TAMU) BIOL112 Introductory Biology II Exam 3 Practice

Indeterminate cleavage is a type of embryonic cell division in which the fate of each individual cell is not predetermined early in development. This means that the cells created during the early stages of cleavage can still become any type of cell in the organism. A direct consequence of this characteristic is that if cells are isolated from the early embryo, they retain the potential to develop into viable individuals, a phenomenon often observed in species that exhibit indeterminate cleavage, such as echinoderms and some amphibians. This ability contrasts with determinate cleavage, where the future development of each cell is fixed early on. The flexibility in cell fate during indeterminate cleavage allows for the formation of identical twins and other forms of cellular plasticity during development.

In the context of this question, the capability of isolated cells to develop into viable individuals encapsulates the essence of indeterminate cleavage’s impact on developmental biology.