Experimentally induced differentiation of slow tonic and fast twitch muscles in the chick.

The anterior latissimus dorsi (ALD) muscle of chickens is a slow tonic muscle, while the posterior latissimus dorsi (PLD) is a fast twitch muscle. These muscles on opposite sides of a 3-week-old chick were removed, minced and replaced in the site of the other muscle and left to regenerate. The regenerating muscles were examined at various periods from 4 days onwards and their contractile properties were found to resemble those typical of the muscle they replaced and not the original muscle. The regenerating muscles from 8 days onwards displayed the morphological features of the control muscles in the contralateral site. By 14 days, differentiation was almost complete and neuromuscular junctions were seen. It is suggested that the physiological and morphological characteristics of a muscle are determined by its position and possibly also by its innervation.