Embryos go through an important process called gastrulation, that transforms them from a simple ball of cells into a creature resembling the adult form. The process of gastrulation involves cell movements generating three germ layers. The ectoderm becomes the epidermis on the outer surface of their body. The endoderm deep inside the embryo becomes the gut organs. And the mesoderm lies between the ectoderm and endoderm, and contributes to the muscle and bone that develops later.
In the course of our latest experiments, we discovered that the South african clawed frog has a different gastrulation movement than that described in textbooks. Therefore, the possibility arose that gastrulation movements may differ between different amphibian species. In order to explore this possibility, we collected the fertilized eggs of different amphibian species from the wild, and examined their modes of gastrulation.
In the experiments using the Eastern Japanese common toad and the Japanese brown frog, we faced to an unexpected problem. In these experiments, a particular portion of the embryo should be labeled with blue or red dyes, but the eggs were too dark to detect the labeled tissue. How were we to proceed with the experiments? The difficulties encountered in biological research can be interesting. We are now looking for a solution. Please contact us if you have any solutions to this problem.
(Chikara Hashimoto / Senior Researcher)
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Biohistory Journal, Summer, 2003
