Recently, the temporal and spatial distribution patterns of the retinoid receptor ligands 9-cis-retinoic acid and all-trans-retinoic acid were described in Xenopus embryos during early development [Creech Kraft, Schuh, Juchau and Kimelman (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., in the press]. The present study demonstrates the presence and distribution of their likely precursors, all-trans-retinol, didehydroretinol, didehydroretinal and all-trans-retinal, as well as the occurrence of 4-oxo metabolites, in Xenopus embryos. The temporal and spatial distribution patterns of all-trans-retinol, didehydroretinol and all-trans-retinal did not coincide with that observed for 9-cis-retinoic acid but, in certain regards, were similar to the patterns delineated for all-trans-retinoic acid and all-trans-retinoyl beta-glucuronide. Evidence is presented that 9-cis-retinoic acid can be synthesized from both all-trans-retinoic acid and all-trans-retinol in Xenopus embryos, suggesting that the difference between the distributions of 9-cis-retinoic acid and the other retinoids may be caused by selective synthesis and/or protein binding of the 9-cis isomer.