Embryology - Biology 104, Spring 2006 - Albert Harris and Corey Johnson

 

OUTLINE OF SECOND LECTURE: Jan 13, 2006, by Corey Johnson

Compare embryology of sea urchin, frog, bird and mammal
similarities and differences

Despite the differences in the adult form of animals across the vertebrates, their embryology is quite similar. What are the groups of vertebrates?

Anamniotes

    1. Fish
    2. Amphibians
Amniotes
    3. Reptiles
    4. Birds
    5. Mammals

Superphylum: Deuterostomia (have 2 openings- mouth and anus)
Phyla: Echinodermata Chordata (FYI: Chaetognatha Hemichordata)
We'll look at sea urchins too because their embryology is so similar to early stages of vertebrates

Karl Ernst Von Baer: The general characters of the group to which an embryo belongs appear in development earlier than the special characters. Similarities are seen early, differences later.

Vertebrates (and the sea urchin) undergo similar transition from zygote to blastula

Many apparent differences seen among vertebrates are thought to be due to the amount of yolk in the zygote.

Basic terminology

Zygote - single celled embryo
cleavage furrow - cleft formed by cytokenesis
Blastomeres - cells resulting from cleavage
Blastula - embryo composed of many Blastomeres and a hollow center

Sea Urchin embryology: diagram

    Microlecithal egg - very little yolk
    Cleavage plane is perpendicular to previous cleavage (called radial cleavage)
    Animal pole - contains mesomeres
    Vegetal pole - contains macromeres and micromeres
    Blastocoel - cavity of the blastula

Amphibian Embryology: diagram

    Mesolecithal egg - moderate amount of yolk
    Radial cleavage
    Animal pole is pigmented;
    unpigmented vegetal pole contains most of the yolk
    Gray crescent - forms by the displacement of pigment following fertilization
    Blastocoel is displaced toward the animal pole because of the presence of the large yolk-laden macromeres
    The blasotcoel is surrounded by multiple layers of cells, unlike the sea urchin

Avian Embryology: diagram

    Macrolecithal egg - large amount of yolk
    Blastodisc - a small region of cytoplasm containing the nucleus and free of yolk
    Cleavage does not divide yolk, as in amphibians
    Discoidal cleavage - occurs only through blastodisc
    Blastoderm - formed from the blastodisc as it acquires several layers
    Subgerminal cavity - fluid filled cavity forms beneath blastoderm; it's not the blastocoel
    Multicellular blastoderm layer above the subgerminal cavitiy becomes a single layer! Epiblast. Hypoblast cells come from the periphery, and migrate underneath epiblast forming a second cavity between epi- and hypo-blast, the blastocoel

Mammalian Embryology: diagram

    Mammals are a diverse group. There are mammals that lay eggs! We'll study the embryology common to mice and humans.
    Microlecithal egg, but embryo forms on one side as if it had a large yolk like a bird
    Blastomeres undergo compaction to eliminate gaps, tight junctions form
    Ions are pumped inward by the outer cells, causing osmosis to form a cavity - this embryo is now called a blastocyst (not a blastula)
    Inner cells stick to one pole and are called the inner cell mass
    Outer cells are called trophoblast
    The inner cell mass divides into epiblast and hypoblast layers: delamination


Sea Urchin Gastrulation

    Ingression: micromeres pass into the blastocoel
    Invagination: the vegetal pole folds inward forming a pocket
    Archenteron: the pocket (endoderm) continues to expand as a tube toward the animal pole
    Outer cells: ectoderm Inner cells: endoderm Micromeres: mesoderm

 

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