Embryonic Tissue and Blastema Transplantations.

Embryo grafts have been an experimental pillar in developmental biology, and particularly, in amphibian biology. Grafts have been essential in constructing fate maps of different cell populations and migratory patterns. Likewise, autografts and allografts in older larvae or adult salamanders have been widely used to disentangle mechanisms of regeneration. The combination of transgenesis and grafting has widened even more the application of this technique.In this chapter, we provide a detailed protocol for embryo transplants in the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum ). The location and stages to label connective tissue, muscle, or blood vessels in the limb and blood cells in the whole animal. However, the potential of embryo transplants is enormous and impossible to cover in one chapter. Furthermore, we provide a protocol for blastema transplantation as an example of allograft in older larvae.