Nutrient requirements of rat embryos undergoing organogenesis in vitro.

Rat embryos at the head-fold stage were cultured in rotating bottles for 2 days in rat serum extensively dialysed against glucose-free BSS, and to which various energy sources and nutrients were added. Optimum growth and differentiation, virtually indentical with that obtained in while serum and to that seen during the corresponding period in vivo, were obtained with the addition of glucose and certain vitamins: pantothenic acid and riboflavin had a general beneficial effect on development, i-inositol suppressed neural tube defects, and folic acid significantly improved growth of the embryos.