Embryo Lab Exercise 4

Development of the Frog Embryo

4MM Frog EmbryoWhole Mount

Characterized by the Presence of a:

- Tail
- Neural tube
- Notochord
- Segmented mesoderm
- Fin folds
Neural system differentiates into: (Has thickenings and constrictions)

- Prosencephalon foremost part

- Mesencephalon middle part
- Rhombencephalon hind part

Presence of Epiphysis

- FORMED BY: Mid-dorsal evagination of the brain vesicle

Olfactory Placodes

- Thickenings on lateral surface of head anterior

- Olfactory Pits
o FORMED BY: Evagination from Olfactory Placodes
o Olfactory pits are Cavities

Lens Placode

- Anterior to pits
- DERIVED FROM: Ectoderm (paired thickenings of head ectoderm)
- FATE: Evaginates to form the lens vesicle and then the eye lens in the future

Otic Lens

- Level of Rhombencephalon
- In the form of a closed chamber
- FORMED BY: evagination of the otic placode

Notochord

- Extends from midbrain to posterior end of body

- Somites
o Found on each side of notochord
o DERIVED FROM: Mesoderm subdivided into segments
Stomodeum

- DERIVED FROM: Ectoderm

- Rudiment of mouth
- FORMED BY: Invagination of antero-ventral ectoderm of head
- In contact with anterior wall of the foregut
- by an Oropharyngeal membrane
o Separates endodermal foregut and stomodeum
- FATE: Forms mouth when it ruptures
- Suckers
o Ventrolateral to oral region
o DERIVED FROM: Ectodermal thickenings

Heart

- Beneath the floor of the foregut

- Anterior to yolk
- DERIVED FROM: Loose mesodermal cells; when organized forms the heart

Liver

- Median posteroventrally directed diverticulum in the foregut

**Bulk of Body is filled with Endodermal yolk serves as nutrition for the growth and differentiation of
the embryo

Proctodeum

- Base of the tail

- DERIVED FROM: Ectodermal invagination
- FATE: Breaks open in hind gut to be the anus

TRANSVERSE SECTION

Study of Serial Section allows:

- Study of microscopic anatomy of embryo (internal anatomy of embryo)

 - Features that are not evident in the whole embryo

Serial sections

- Entire embryo sectioned into a certain plane

- Serial cross sections
o Embryo sectioned perpendicularly to cranio-caudal axis from head to tail
o Anterior most region of embryo
Located at the extreme left of uppermost row
o Posterior most portion
Last section of extreme right of bottom most row
o Slides must be observed from left to right

Level of the Prosencephalon and Nasal Rudiments

Prosencephalon

- Anterior of embryonic brain

- CAVITY: Prosocoel

Mesenchyme

- Mesos middle; Enchyma infusion, something poured in **GREEK**

- Embryonic Connective Tissue
- DERIVED FROM: mesoderm and neural crest cells
- Forms in connective tissues
- FATE: Epithelial, muscular and nervous tissues

Head Mesenchyme

- Fills spaces between presumptive epidermis (skin ectoderm) and walls of prosencephalon
- DERIVED FROM: Mesoderm with additional cells of neural crest origin

Olfactory Placodes

- FORMED BY: Paired pigment invagination on either side of the prosocoel

- Found in head mesenchyme
Epidermis

- Outermost skin layer

- DERIVED FROM: Ectoderm

Level of the Mesencephaol and Optic Cups

Infundibulum

- Portion of prosencephalon
- Mesencephalon appears dorsal to the infundibulum
- FATE: Develops as a depression in the floor of the prosecephalon
- Precursor to the posterior portion of the pituitary gland

Hypophysis

- Ventral to infundibulum
- Small knot of tissue
- DERIVED FROM: Ectoderm
- Develops as an inward growing cord of ectoderm from stomodeum
- FATE: anterior portion of pituitary gland

Optic Cups

- Lateral to infundibulum
- Lens vesicle present on left side

Oral Evagination of Foregut

- Ventral to infundibulum and hypohysis

- Cavity
- Has walls composed of endoderm

Mesencephalon

- Mid region of developing embryonic brain with a thick roof

- CAVITY: mesocoel
- ALSO KNOWN AS: midbrain
Oral Cavity

- Cavity at cranial end of alimentary canal

- Spherical in appearance

Oral Plate

- Thickened region
- Cranial portion of the alimentary canal in contact with the ectoderm in head
- ALSO KNOWN AS: pharyngeal plate or oropharyngeal membrane

Stomodeum

- DERIVED FROM: Ectoderm

- Ectodermal rudiment of mouth
- FORMED BY: Invagination of the ectoderm
- At anteroventral region of head

Hypophysis (Hypo under, beneath; Physis growth)

- Solid ingrowth or nodular aggregation of cells between oral and brain cavity
- Hypophysis described in 2 ways:
- May be used to describe portion of enveloping gland:
o FORMED BY: Invagination of stomodeum which fuses with the infundibulum to
form the pituitary gland
o Eg. Rathkes pocket
- May be used to describe a complete adult gland:
o Endocrine gland
FORMED BY: An ingrowth from the stomodeum (Rathkes pocket) and the
infundibulum
- ALSO KNOWN AS: pituitary gland

Infundibulum

- Funnel like depression of prosencephalon

- FATE : Forms the posterior lobe of pituitary gland with the stomodeum
- Smaller, ventral component of diencephalon with thin roof and thick sides
Mandibular Arch

- Cranial branchial arch

o FATE:
caudal border of stomodeum
maxillary process cranial to stomodeum

Adhesive Glands

- DERIVED FROM: Paired Ectodermal thickenings in ventral surface

- Secrete adhesive mucus for attachment to floating objects
- ALSO KNOWN AS: cement glands, mucous glands, oral suckers

Optic Vesicle

- FORMED BY: Evagination from the lateral wall of prosencephalon

- First indication of formation of eye
- FATE: Walls give rise to ectodermal parts of eye (except lens and cornea)

Optic Cup

- Double-walled structure
- FORMED BY: Invagination of the distal portion of the optic vesicle
- Inner layer thicker than outer layer
- **what are the fates of the inner and outer layer of the optic cup? Idk manual asked

Optic Stalk

- Connection of Optic Cup with Brain

Level of the Rhombencephalon

Section through the Anterior Pharynx

Rhombencephalon (Gr. Rhombos whirling, turning; Kephale head)

- Most caudal of brain of developing embryo with a thin roof

- CAVITY: Rhombocoel
- ALSO KNOWN AS: hind brain
Notochord (Gr. Noton back; Gr. Chorde guts, string)

- DERIVED FROM: Mesoderm

- Round structure from mesoderm and lying dorsal to gut and ventral to hindbrain
- Defines anterior/posterior axis in developing embryo
- FUNCTION: Provides skeletal support in early devt

Pharynx

- Region of foregut
- FATE: Paired evagination corresponds to pharyngeal pouches

Otic

- FORMED BY: Paired invagination of of otic placode

- Laterally located and ventral to brain
- Separates from head ectoderm to form inner ear
- FATE: Inner Ear
- ALSO KNOWN AS: auditory vesicle

Section through Embryonic Heart

Heart

- SUSPENDED IN: pericardial coelom

- SUSPENDED BY: dorsal mesocardium
- Below the pharynx
- Beneath enlarged foregut
- Pericardium
o Delimits pericardial coelom
o Thin layer of somatic mesoderm
o Membrane enclosing the heart
o FORMED BY: migration of heart mesoderm to midventral region of the pericardial
cavity
- Loose mesenchymal cells
o Composition of heart
o Thick mass of mesoderm
 o Endocardium
Mesenchymal cells organize into a continuous endothelial lining of the heart
Inner layer of heart
Lining of heart wall
o Epimyocardium
Form the muscle
Outer layer of heart

Section through the liver diverticulum

Mesomeres

- Paired bulges below horizontal level of notochord

- FATE: Pronephric Tubules
o collectively may be called
pronephros
pronephric kidney

Floor of pharynx has deep groove

- Groove is the liver diverticulum (rudiment of liver)

Section through the Pronephros

- At a level caudal of the liver diverticulum

- Foregut(pharynx) narrows into midgut
- Presence of mass of yolky endoderm
- Yolky endoderm
o Nutrient supply of developing embryo

Section through the Midgut

- Wedged between notochord and midgut, a small knot of cells can be identified that are part
of the subnotochordal rod (omg review ano to ulit???)
- Subnotochordal rod
o Transient structure of endodermal origin
o Unknown function that disappears later on
 o Char andyan na nga, mawawala pa. yan tayo eh

Section through the Hindgut

- At base of tail, at level of proctodeum

- Proctodeum
o FORMED BY: Ectodermal invagination that meets with the endoderm of the
hindgut
o DERIVED FROM: Ectoderm
- Cloacal membrane
o Delicate strand of tissue between proctodeum and hindgut
o Ecotdermal and endodermal plate
o FATE: Will become perforated to form the posterior opening of the digestive tract

Dorsal Fin

- Flat extension of the body wall along dorsal midline of the trunk and tail
- FATE: Degenerates during metamorphosis of tadpole

Hindgut

- Posterior most region of embryonic gut

- FATE: cloaca, colon, small intestine, and rectum

Proctodeum

- FORMED BY: Ectodermal invagination on ventral side of trunk at base

- FATE: breaks into hindgut forming anus
- ALSO KNOWN AS: anal pit
7MM Frog Embryo

WHOLE MOUNT

Characterized with:

- Well formed external gills

- Functional heart
- Embryo has changed shape and has become a tadpole
- Elongated tail
o Serve as a swimming organ
o Provides lateral segmented somites and finfolds on ventral and dorsal side
- Forebrain has further differentiation:
o Telencephalon (with 2 hemispheres)
o Diencephalon
- Stomodeum
o Deeply invaginated
- Olfactory Pit
o Large pigmented cells surround this
- Epiphysis
o Circular knob of cells separated from the brain
- Notochord underneath the brain extends up to the tail
- Head and trunk bloated
- Liver diverticulum can be identified
- Hindgut
o Persists as cloaca
o Does not lose its cavity
o Dorsal wall of hindgut becomes extended into the tail rudiment as the post anal gut
Post anal gut eventually breaks and disappears
Lahat nagbebreak at nawawala
o FATE: gives rise to Urinary bladder
Urinary bladder
FORMED BY: Ventral Evagination

Transverse Section

Level of the Telencephalon and Olfactory Pits

- Olfactory pits
o Now visible lateral to ventral portion of prosencephalon
o Began as two thickenings (placodes of ectoderm in 4mm frog)
o FORMED BY: Invaginated and lengthened to form pits
o DERIVED FROM: Ectoderm
o FATE: nasal passages with olfactory receptors
- Large indentation on the ventral surface of the embryo
Marks the beginning of the oral cavity

- Oral Plate
o Has become perforated and embryo now has an open mouth
Telencephalon

- Paired hemispheres occupying anterior region of forebrain

Diencephalon

- Posterior division of prosencephalon

Olfactory Pit

- Appears as a cavity on lateral surface of head

Epiphysis

- FORMED BY: Slight middorsal evagination of brain vesicle

- FATE: pineal gland in adult

Head Mesenchyme

- DERIVED FROM: Loose mesenchymal cells

- Formed between head ectoderm and brain

Level of the Diencephalon and Optic Cups

- Portion of mesencephalon and prosencephalon evident in this section with constriction

between them
- Optic cups seen in lateral to brain
- Oral cavity is visible surrounded by presumptive jaw cartilages
- Adhesive glands present on ventral surface of embryo

Diencephalon

- Posterior half of forebrain

- Deep, laterally compressed region
- ATTACHED TO IT ARE:
o Optic stalks
o Infundibulum
o Epiphysis
Mesencephalon

- Brain located posterior to eye

- Center for reflexes associated with vision, hearing and movement of the head

Optic Cup

- Outer pigmented layer and inner retinal portion of the optic cup can be distinguished at this
level
- Lens vesicle in concavity

Pharynx

- Pharynx is large and more rounded

- Clustered mass of cells on each side
- Gives rise to mandibular arch
o the posterior border of the stomodeum

Stomodeum

- FORMED BY: Deep invagination of pigmented midventral ectoderm at anterior end of

pharynx
- DERIVED FROM: Ectoderm

Adhesive Glands

- DERIVED FROM: paired ectodermal thickenings

- found at the ventral surface of head
- secretes adhesive mucus for attachment to floating objects
- ALSO KNOWN AS: cement glands, mucous glands, oral suckers

Level of Rhombencephalon

Section through the Thyroid

What can be seen?

- Below mesencephalon
- Small portion of wall of infundibulum evident
 - Lateral to floor of the mesencephalon
o Developing cranial nerve ganglion observed here
Part of the peripheral nervous system
Derived from neural crest cells
- Posterior portion of the optic cup may still be visible

Pharynx

- As described previously
- But pharynx is wider here

Thyroid

- FORMED BY: evagination of endodermal cells

- DERIVED FROM: Endoderm
- From pharyngeal floor

Section through the Otic Vesicle

- Sectioning through the hindbrain (rhombencephalon

- Roof of rhombencephalon
o Composed of single layer of flattened cells
- Notochord now visible ventral to rhombencephalon
- Truncus arteriosus
o Beneath the pharynx, most anterior portion of the heart
o Evident within pericardial coelom
- Heart has 4 subdivisions in anterior or posterior order
o Truncus arteriosus
o Ventricle
o Atrium
o Sinus venosus
- Blood flows through embryonic heart from posterior to anterior
o Starts in sinus venosus ends at truncus arteriosus
- Otic capsules visible within the section now
o DERIVED FROM: ectoderm
o FATE: inner ears
Rhombencephalon

- Third brain vesicle which expands anterior to form the IV Ventricle

- Internal organization similar to the spinal cord
- FATE: metencephalon (anterior) and myelencephalon (posterior)

Notochord

- DERIVED FROM: mesoderm

- Lying dorsal to gut and ventral to hindbrain
- Defines anterior/posterior axis in developing embryo
- Provides skeletal support during early development

Otic Vesicle

- Irregularly hollow organ on each side of hindbrain

- Closed chamber
- FORMED BY: invagination of otic placode

Heart

- Lies beneath the pharynx

Bulbus cordis

- Most anterior heart chamber

Pericardial Coelom

- Cavity that surrounds the heart and is bounded by the pericardium

Section through the Heart

- Sectioning of external gills evident on outer surface of pharyngeal region

- External gills
o Finger-like projections that protrude from sides of head
- Heart-forming region
o Ventricle seen with atrium appearing above
Esophageal Plug

- Mass of cells
- FUNCTION: temporarily blocks esophagus before amphibian larva begins to feed

Atrium (atrium hall)

- Chamber of the heart

- Receives blood from sinus venosus
- Delivers blood to ventricle
- Seen above the ventricle
- Thin walled chamber almost filled with blood

External Gills

- Filamentous respiratory organ

- FORMED BY/ARISES FROM: the branchial arches 3 to 6
- FATE: Replaced by internal gills in later development