Erythroid cell differentiation in unincubated chick blastoderm in culture
Morphologically distinct erythroid cell types characteristic of the primitive and the definitiveerythroid cell lines, and embryonic and adult haemoglobins are produced when the unin-cubated chick blastoderm is cultured ventral side down on a filter raft to inhibit morphogeneticmovements and subsequent primitive-streak formation mechanically in serum-free minimalessential medium. The primitive and definitive erythroid cell populations appear consecutivelyin culture even though there is no axis formation nor apparent morphogenesis. The informa-tion to produce both the early and late haemoglobins and erythroid cell types is independentof axis formation and of specific extra-embryonic influences, such as progressive inductionexerted by the yolk mass.