A Method for Detecing Malformations in Chicken Embryos.

Abstract

An investigation was performed on a method for detecting abnormalities in central nervous system, viscera and skeletons in chicken embryos. The examination of the nervous system and viscera was performed on embryos that had been fixed with BOUIN's solution for more than a week, basically accoding to the methods of WILSON (1965) or BARROW & TAYLOR (1969) designed for mammalian fetuses, but with occasional modifications when required. As a result, the present procedure proved to be an excellent method. When 6-aminonicotinamide was injected into yolk sac, hypoplasia of the heart in one case, hypoplasia of the left hepatic lobe in another case were found, indicating the effectiveness of this method as a teratological test. To examine the skeleton, embryos fixed with ethanol were skinned, defatted in acetone, cleared with 1% aqueous KOH containing 0.1% H2O2, and stained with alizarin red S. As a result, good stained specimens were obtained. Skeletal specimens were also prepared from 6-aminonicotinamide-treated embryos. These specimens revealed fused cervical vertebrae, fused lumbosacral vertebrae, delayed ossification of the caudal vertebrae, uncinate process, sternebrae, and digitus manus bones. These findings indicate that this method can serve as a useful teratological test.

Development of the skeleton in Japanese quail embryos

“…Furthermore, some trials have been performed to produce transgenic or chimeric birds ( Etches et al 1993 ; Love et al 1994 ; Naito et al 1994 ; Ono et al 1994b , 1995, 1998). Also, in a teratological test, the use of avian embryos has been proposed as one of the alternative methods ( Hashizume et al 1992 , 1993). This research and tests, as well as general experimental embryology with avian embryos, require a list of normal embryonic stages as the normal control to plan the experiment and analyze the results.…”

Avian Reproduction

“…It has been reported that biological engineering in avian species has advanced, for example, artificial in ovo culture of one-celled zygote of blastoderm stage, made the production of adult bird possible [71]. Similarly, some trials to produce transgenic of chimeric birds have been conducted [72], and the use of avian embryo in teratological test has been anticipated [73]. Nakane and Tsudzuki [74] established that series of normal stages in the development of Japanese quail embryo skeleton composed of 15 stages.…”