Etude autoradiographique des premiers stades du développement de l'ébauche du membre antérieur chez deux espèces de Chéloniens (Testudo graeca L. et Emys orbicularis L.)
Autoradiographic study of early stages of the anterior limb-bud in two species of chelonian embryos Embryos of two chelonian species (Testudo graeca L., Emys orbicularis L.) from 20-somites stage to 34-somites stage, fixed 2–4 h after an injection of tritiated thymidine or uridine or leucine, then emulsion-exposed 12–14 days, showed the following results: (1) When the labelling index was determined in the mesoderm of the somatopleure, the labelling index in the flank region (S13–S16) remained at about 0·3 but the labelling index in the prospective anterior limb region rose to 0·4–0·5 when the processes of the somites S6–S13 reached the somatopleure. The somites seem to induce the proliferation of the somatopleure and the transformation of the somatopleural cells in mesoblastic basophilic cells. (2) The dilated extremities of the processes of somites S6–S12 proliferate cells which become free from the somite and multiply. Thus, the somites S6–S12 participate materially in the constitution of the mesoblastic blastema of the limb-bud. (3) In the mesoblast, regionalizations appear in transverse histological sections – in the cranial-caudal direction. (4) An apical epiblastic crest develops, at 26–27-somites stage, in the area where the mesoblastic cells are the most abundant and the most active (between somites S8 and S11). At 28–29-somites stage, this crest Anlage synthesizes very little DNA; and at 34-somites stage the synthesis of RNA and proteins also decreases. These results are compared with results obtained in other reptiles and chick embryos, in the light of the theories on the role of the somites and of the apical crest in the development of the anterior limb-bud.