Further studies on the melanophores of periodic albino mutant of Xenopus laevis

It is still unknown why dermal melanophores disappear during larval development, and why no or very few epidermal melanophores appear during and after metamorphosis, in Xenopus laevis showing periodic albinism (ap). To elucidate these points, we investigated (1) the occurrence of depigmentation in mutant (ap/ap) melanophores during in vitro proliferation and (2) the incidence of melanophore differentiation from mutant melanoblasts in the skin in vitro. During in vitro proliferation of mutant melanophores, ap-type melanosomes decreased in number gradually and instead the number of premelanosomes increased in the cells, which caused depigmentation at the light microscopic level in the culture. Depigmentation was observed only in mutant melanophores, and not in wild-type (+/+) melanophores. These results suggest that autonomous depigmentation of mutant dermal melanophores is the cause of the disappearance of these cells in vivo. Dopa-positive melanoblasts were demonstrated in both wild-type and mutant skins. However, the melanoblasts of metamorphosed mutant froglets did not differentiate in vitro, while those of wild-type froglets did. These results suggest that mutant melanoblasts in the skin of froglets lose the potency to differentiate into melanophores, and that this causes the lack of mutant melanophores in the froglets. The site of action of the ap gene is also discussed.