Grafting experiments on determination and migratory behaviour of presomitic, somitic and somatopleural cells in avian embryos.

The state of determination of somites, parts of somites, unsegmented paraxial mesoderm and of somatopleure was investigated by grafting these tissues from quail embryos to the wing buds of chicken embryos. It was found that muscular and chondrogenic determination occur before the formation of somites. Muscular determination takes place earlier than previously assumed and ahead of chondrogenic determination. Somatopleure yields cartilage, but no skeletal muscle. Prospective sclerotomes are primarily capable of differentiating into muscle and loose this potency in the course of development. Myogenic cells extensively migrate within the wing bud in a proximo-distal direction, whereas chondrogenic cells both of somitic and somatopleural origin show no overt migratory tendency.