Int. J. Dev. Biol. 50: 385 - 392 (2006)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.052021as

Vol 50, Issue 4

Comparison of induction during development between Xenopus tropicalis and Xenopus laevis

Open Access | Original Article | Published: 1 March 2006

Ayako Sedohara¹, Keiko Suzawa² and Makoto Asashima*^,1,2,3

¹Department of Life Sciences (Biology), Graduate School of Art and Sciences, ²Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan and ³International Cooperative Research Project (ICORP)/Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Tokyo, Japan

Abstract

Several in vitro systems exist for the induction of animal caps using growth factors such as activin. In this paper, we compared the competence of activin-treated animal cap cells dissected from the late blastulae of Xenopus tropicalis and Xenopus laevis. The resultant tissue explants from both species differentiated into mesodermal and endodermal tissues in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, RT-PCR analysis revealed that organizer and mesoderm markers were expressed in a similar temporal and dose-dependent manner in tissues from both organisms. These results indicate that animal cap cells from Xenopus tropicalis have the same competence in response to activin as those from Xenopus laevis.

Keywords

activin, chd, cer, Xbra, tissue differentiation, Xenopus laevis, Xenopus tropicalis