Hammerling's Experiment
A. mediterranea has a smooth, disc shaped cap, while A. crenulata has a branched, flower-like cap. Each Acetabularia cell is composed of three segments: the "foot" or base which contains the nucleus, the "stalk," and the "cap."
Hämmerling exchanged the caps from two species, A. mediterranea and A. crenulata. The caps of these species are different in form; however, after exchange, the caps gradually changed from their original form to that typical of its base, where the nucleus is located. In another experiment, the addition of a nucleus from another species into a single intact Acetabularia produced a hybrid cap, showing that both nuclei are influencing the form of the cap.
Hammerling's experiment with the single celled green algae, Acetabularia, showed that the nucleus of a cell contains the genetic information that directs cellular development.
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