A flow cytometric analysis of the embryonic origin of lymphocytes in diploid/triploid chimeric Xenopus laevis.
Quantitative flow cytometry was used to examine the embryonic origin of lymphocytes in Xenopus laevis. Reciprocal head/body transplants were made between diploid (2N) and triploid (3N) embryos of the same developmental stages ranging from neural plate to tail bud stages. Thymuses and spleens were removed from postmetamorphic chimeras. Cell suspensions were stained with the fluorescent DNA stain, mithramycin, and the ploidy (relative fluorescence intensity) of the cells was then determined by flow cytometry. All lymphocytes in the chimeras were derived from the posterior portion of the embryo. In other experiments, various regions of the lateral plate or ventral mesoderm were grafted from triploid to diploid embryos. Only transplants that included middorsal mesoderm gave rise to lymphocytes.
D000818:Animals; D002678:Chimera; D004171:Diploidy; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D011003:Ploidies; D014981:Xenopus / Q000235:genetics*