Int. J. Dev. Biol. 36: 161 - 167 (1992)

Vol 36, Issue 1

Special Issue: Developmental Biology in Belgium

Evolution of the developmental scores of sixteen morphological features in mouse embryos displaying 0 to 30 somites

Published: 1 March 1992

G van Maele-Fabry, F Delhaise and J J Picard

Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.

Abstract

A precise framework of morphological developmental events observed macroscopically in early postimplantation mouse embryos aged 8-10 days (0-30 somites) is established. The quantitative evolution of the developmental score of 16 features as a function of the developmental stage of the embryos (expressed in number of somites) is presented. Thirty-one groups of ten embryos, each with 0 to 30 somites, were scored for each feature according to the previous description of the authors. In addition, the variation of individual structures as a function of embryonic developmental stages is evaluated. It is suggested that the framework of differentiating individual structures at given developmental stages will help to plan experiments in developmental biology of rodents and will facilitate the interpretation of results in developmental toxicity.