TY - JOUR TI - Surface contraction and expansion waves correlated with differentiation in axolotl embryos. II. In contrast to urodeles, the anuran Xenopus laevis does not show furrowing surface contraction waves. AU - Nieuwkoop, P D AU - Bjorklund, N K AU - Gordon, R T2 - The International Journal of Developmental Biology AB - We have observed a number of contraction waves traversing the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) embryo (a urodelan amphibian) from the midblastula transition up to at least neural tube closure, and wished to learn if similar "differentiation waves" appear on the popular laboratory anuran amphibian, the South African clawed toad, Xenopus laevis. Time lapse video microscopy showed that no contraction waves are visible on the surface of Xenopus from gastrulation through neurulation. It is possible that cell intercalations in the double-layered ectoderm of the Xenopus embryo are homologous to the surface waves in the single layered ectoderm of the axolotl embryo. In any case, a simple, universal correspondence between surface waves and induction phenomena and differentiation does not exist. PY - 1996 VL - 40 IS - 4 SP - 661 EP - 664 J2 - Int. J. Dev. Biol. LA - en SN - 0214-6282 SN - 1696-3547 UR - https://ijdb.ehu.eus/article/8877438 Y2 - 2024/11/21/18:12:42 ER -