Lymphocytes of the toad Xenopus laevis have the gene set for promoting tadpole development.
Nuclear transplantation experiments show that differentiated cells, such as lymphocytes, from the adult frog can express the genes necessary for tadpole development. The transplanted cells were proven to be lymphocytes by immunological methods. The origin of the tadpoles that developed after lymphocyte nuclei injections was ascertained by a karyotypic marker.
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000502:physiology; D005796:Genes; D005838:Genotype; D007621:Karyotyping; D007814:Larva; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D053652:Nuclear Transfer Techniques; D014981:Xenopus / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development