On the development of the spinal cord of the clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. II. Experimental analysis of differentiation and migration.

In order to determine the time and site of origin and the final location of various cell groups in the spinal cord, tadpoles of Xenopus laevis, ranging from stage 48 to stage 56 were treated with tritiated thymidine and sacrificed at various stages from 49 to 66 (stages according to Nieuwkoop and Faber (1967). From the poorly developed matrix at stage 48-49 not only ventral horn cells, but also neuroblasts of the intermediate zone and the dorsal horn arise. Both the matrix and the ventricle expand in a dorsal direction. From the well-developed matrix at stage 54, in which the mitotic activity is almost exclusively confined to its dorsal part, mainly cells of the dorsal horn develop. However, this later-stage matrix also gives rise to a considerable number of neuroblasts, which become located in the central parts of the intermediate zone and the ventral horn. Generally the later-born cells come to lie dorsomedially to the older ones. The neuroblasts of the lateral motor column, however, migrate through and settle ventrolaterally to their predecessors. Our observations do not support the basal plate-alar plate concept of His (1893).