Frogs Flashcards
Which side of the embryo does the organizer form?
The dorsal side of the embryo.
What can the organizer induce cells into?
Neural ectoderm
What are three spots on the early frog blastula that can be distinguished by their color?
The Pigmented animal region, gray crescent, and vegetal region.
Why is the gray crescent visible?
The subcortical crescent is visible after the outer surface of the zygote rotates.
What happens without inclusion of the gray crescent?
You do not have formation of axial structures, and you get a “belly-piece”: Bauschstuck, or Chicken McNugget
What is the orientation of the cortical rotation, and crescent with respect to the sperm entry point?
The sperm entry point is defined as the ventral side. The cortex rotates 30 degrees, the gray crescent is on the dorsal side.
What evidence is there that cortical rotation is a required movement?
A UV irradiated zygote cannot undergo rotation, and ends up as a chicken mcnugget. If tipped in wax, the embryo is rescued.
What cellular component is necessary for cortical rotation?
Microtubules
What happens with an excess of microtubules?
excess of anterior structures.
Are frog eggs in zero gravity normal, or abnormal?
Normal. Microtubules and motors are sufficient for rotation.
What induces functional organizer?
Dorsal vegetal cells from the Nieuwkoop Center.
Dorsal endoderm induces dorsal endoderm. What evidence is there for this?
If you remove the Mesoderm from a blastula, the ectoderm that is now touching the endoderm turns to mesoderm.
What are some molecular accumulations in the dorsal endoderm?
Release of Disheveled, GSK-3 (inhibits GSK-3B which would normally break down B catenin), and Wnt 11
What can cause a Nieuwkoop Center to form?
B catenin
What happens when you deplete B catenin?
YOU have centralized embryos.
What does B-catenin cause expression of by the Nieuwkoop Center?
Siamois, and twin genes.
What does siamos over expression lead to ?
A second axis.
Mesoderm Induction : Step 1
Beta catenin leads to expression of nodal related proteins like VegT and Vg1
Mesoderm Induction: Step 2
Vegetal cells create a spectrum of D-V differences