Studies on the gastrulation of amphibian embryos: light and electron microscopic observation of a urodele Cynops pyrrhogaster

Abstract

The course of gastrulation in embryos of a urodele, Cynops pyrrhogaster, was studied with 1 mum Epon sections and transmission and scanning electron microscopy. During the initial period of gastrulation, the bottle cells and a groove are formed in the dorsal part. The outer ends of the bottle cells have many microvilli, an electron-dense layer and many small vesicles. Microtubules are present parallel to the long axis of the bottle cells, and a yolk-platelet-free region is observed at the inner end. Thereafter, the archenteric roof makes contact with the inner surface of the blastocoelic wall. Cells of the archenteric roof form lobopodia, filopodia and lamellipodia. These cells make many focal contact, having gaps of less tha 20 nm, with the blastocoelic wall. Invaginating mesodermal cells of the lateral and ventral parts also form pseudopodia, and are in contact with the blastocoelic wall. Some of these cells appear to flatten against the wall. These observations suggest that, after the bottle cells and the blastoporal groove are formed, the invaginating cells actively migrate along the inner surface of the blastocoelic wall, and that these locomotive forces have an important role in the morphogenetic movements during gastrulation.