Esterases in quail (Coturnix coturnix). Physicochemical and developmental aspects.

1. Soluble esterases of digestive system organs of various developmental stages in the quail (Coturnix coturnix) were resolved by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis into several molecular forms which were characterized as carboxylesterases, acetylesterases, cholinesterases and esterases sensitive to eserine. 2.

Cardiac looping in the chick embryo: the role of the posterior precardiac mesoderm.

Grafts of mesoderm taken from the precardiac region of quail embryos of stages 5-7 were inserted into the precardiac mesoderm of chick embryos of stages 5-7. The experiments were of four types and were code named to indicate the origin and the destination of the graft. QACP: tissue from the anterior end of the quail precardiac area was inserted into the posterior end of the chick precardiac mesoderm; QPCA: tissue from the posterior end of the quail precardiac area was inserted into the anterior end of the chick precardiac mesoderm; QACA: tissue from the anterior end of the quail precardiac area was inserted into the anterior end of the chick precardiac mesoderm; QPCP: tissue from the posterior end of the quail precardiac area was inserted into the posterior end of the chick precardiac mesoderm.

Early mesoderm differentiation in the chick embryo.

Two groups of experiments were carried out. In the first group, grafts of quail mesoderm whose presumptive fate was to form somites or heart tissues, were taken from quail embryos (stage 4-5 of Hamburger and Hamilton 1951) and inserted beneath the ectoderm of chick embryos of stage 3-4 immediately lateral to the primitive streak. Whilst most grafts contributed to the somites and or the heart, 22 out of a total of 46 were found to have contributed also to the pharyngeal endoderm.

Multiple molecular forms of soluble esterases in the digestive system of the developing chicken.

Soluble esterases in tissues of endodermic origin and of various developmental ages of Gallus gallus were analysed by polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis and characterized as carboxylesterases, acetylesterases and cholinesterases. Esterase bands were observed from day 9 in the liver and from day 6 in stomach, intestine and yolk sac. The electrophoretic profiles became more complex after hatching with concomitant increase in the staining intensity.

Experimental analysis of control mechanisms in somite segmentation in avian embryos. II. Reduction of material in the gastrula stages of the chick.

A new theory of control of somite segmentation in chick embryos is proposed. This supposses that tiny clusters of already programmed cells are present throughout the presumptive somite area at stage 4, but that in order to fulfill their destiny they probably depend on the addition of further cells from the primitive streak. Evidence is based on the two groups of experiments: a) Experiments involving transection across the primitive streak at various stages, (which results in a 'tail' which possesses mesodermal derivatives) and across the segmental plate (which results in a 'tail' lacking mesodermal derivatives).