ANIMAL EMBRYOLOGY

INTRODUCTION to
Biology 45 (Embryology)
Faculty-in-charge (midterms):
Reggie Yadao-dela Cruz, Ph.D.
Grading system
40% midterm exam
40% quizzes and long exams
10% written report
10% project
Written Report
Select two or more related journal
articles on any new embryology topic
Make a summary/synthesis
Make a reaction
Embryology
Literally, it means study of embryos
Embryo juvenile stage of an animal while
it is within the egg envelopes or in the
maternal parent.
Study of the stages of the development
of an organism from egg to complete
individual
Study of the ontogenetic development of
organisms
Ontogenetic development
Individual development
Used to denote the processes that are
involved in the transformation of the
fertilized egg, or some other rudiment
derived from a parent organism, into
a new adult individual.
Phylogenetic development
Historical development of species or
taxon
Evolutionary development or
evolution
Development
Orderly sequence of change leading
to increase in complexity that occurs
during the growth of an organism
Involved a series of complex
biochemical pathways whose steps
are under gene control
Fertilized egg multicellular organism
We Develop from a Single Cell
One initial cell, the fertilized egg
(zygote), generates hundreds of
different kinds of cells that differ
in contents, shape, size, color,
mobility, and surface composition.
Two major functions of
Development
Generates cellular diversity and
order within each generation.
Ensures the continuity of life
from one generation to the next
Developmental programs in
plants and animals differ
ANIMALS
there is movement of cells and tissues
Growth is limited to embryo and juvenile
periods
PLANTS
Presence of perpetual embryonic tissues
( apical meristems)
Continuous growth of new organs
What particles are
responsible for development?

All the properties of any organism are
determined in the last instance by the
sequence of base triplets (codon) in
the DNA molecules.
Differences among cells in
multicellular organisms
Due to different patterns of gene
expression
Not from differences in the genome
of cells
All cells have the same genes
(genomic equivalence) because these
are all derived from a single-celled
zygote
Differences among cells in
multicellular organisms
Differences among cells in
multicellular organisms
Three processes that can
overlap during development
Cell Division
Cell Differentiation
cell selectively activates genes and synthesizes
proteins not found in other cell types
Cells become specialized in structure and function
e.g. erythrocytes has hemoglobin
beta cells of pancrease - synthesize insulin
mesophyll cells in leaves synthesize
chlorophyll
Morphogenesis = processes that organize
different cells into tissues and organs
Initial aspects of
morphogenesis
Establishment of initial/basic body
plan
Requires cell division, differentiation
and selective cell death (apoptosis)
Initial aspects of
morphogenesis
Initial aspects of
morphogenesis
Developmental genetics
Study of relationships between gene
regulation and cell differentiation
during development
Deals with coordinated expression of
genes from fertilization to adult
formation
Developmental genetics Developmental genetics Developmental genetics Developmental genetics Developmental genetics
Zygote
Adult
Regulated growth
and differentiation
Interactions of genome
With internal cellular and
External environment
Genetic Basis of Development
Differential gene action or
Differential gene expression
Turning ON or OFF of genes at the right
place and time
Production of gene product in the right
form and right amount
Genetic Basis of Development
Genetic Basis of Development Genetic Basis of Development
Differential gene
expression
Involves a cascade of regulatory genes
that are activated and act at the proper
time and place
Product (i.e. protein) of one set of genes
trigger the expression of next set of
genes
Regulatory genes encode transcription
activator proteins that bind to the
promoter of next set of genes
Central dogma of life
DNA RNA PROTEIN
REPLICATION
TRANSCRIPTION TRANSLATION
Intriguing questions

How are genes to be expressed activated
in a coordinated manner?
How is expression of other genes
silenced?
How are developmental decisions fr0zen?
Is differentiation accompanied by
secondary qualitative and quantitative
changes in structure and accessibility of
the genome?
Intriguing questions

Pattern regulating genes in Drosophila(fruit fly)
Tissue-specific
genes
Homeotic or
selector genes
Segment polarity
gene
Pair rule gene
Gap gene
Maternal
effect
genes
(MEG)
Historical Review
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) described the
development of the chick in the egg
Galen (130-200 A.D.) learned much
about the structure of relatively
advanced fetuses
Hamm and Leeuwenhoek (1677) first
observed human sperm
De Graaf (1672) = discovered ovarian
follicle
Theory of
preformation
Two camps:
Spermists
ovists
Bonnet (1745) = discovered
parthenogenesis in eggs of some insects
Strengthened ovists cause
Spallanzani (1722-1799) = demonstrated
that in normal circumstances both male
and female sex products are necessary
for the initiation of development
Kaspar Friedrich Wolff
(German)
Epigenesis (1759)
Embryonic development occurs through
progressive remodelling and growth.
Karl Ernst von Baer
(1828)
More general basic features of any
animal group appear earlier in
development than do special features
that are peculiar to different
members of the group (von Baers
Law)
Biogenetic Law or Baers
law
Features that characterize all
vertebrate animals (brain and spinal
cord, notochord, segmented muscles,
aortic arches) are developed earlier
than the features distinguishing the
various classes of vertebrates (hair in
mammals, feather in birds).

Biogenetic Law or Baers
law
Ontogeny is a recapitulation of
phylogeny.
Events that happened in thousands of
millions of years (phylogeny) is now
performed in a matter of days and weeks
(ontogeny).
Matthias Schleiden and
Theodor Schwann (1839)
Cell theory


Then the foundation of modern
embryology was laid down and
embryology as a science began
Special Fields of
Embryology
Descriptive Embryology
basic structural pattern of the embryonic body
Comparative Embryology (late 19
th
century)
Evolution as the greatest driving force
Experimental embryology
Causative factors in development
Chemical embryology
Descriptive information about chemical and
physiological events in the embryo
Teratology study of malformations

Developmental biology
Not only embryonic development but
also postnatal processes such as
normal or neoplastic growth,
metamorphosis, regeneration and
tissue repair at levels of complexity
ranging from molecular to
organismal.
Differential gene expression can be
detected in early fly embryos before
cells are morphologically different.
Developmental Biology Reveals Changes in the
Properties of Cells as They Specialize.
Experimental embryology
Roux (1850-1924):



Schmidt (1933)
Defective
embryo
2 normal
embryos
Some striking results of
experimental embryology

Methods in Experimental embryology
Extirpation/ablation removal of
small parts of embryos and careful
analyses of the development effects
that resulted
Parabiosis transplantation of
various parts of embryos from place
and place within the embryo or even
the conjoining of two entire embryos
Methods in Experimental embryology
Transplantation
Autografting same embryo
Heterografting different species
Xenografting different order
Explantation
excising small sample of embryonic tissue
and growing it in an artificial environment.
Also called microsurgical methods

New biotechnologies
Sperm sorting
Selective fertilization
In vitro fertilization
Genomic equivalence in
plants
Differentiated somatic cells in plants
can be triggered in a culture medium
to produce a whole plant
Genomic equivalence in
animals
Animals will not often divide in culture
NUCLEAR TRANSPLANTATION can be
done: nucleus of a differentiated cell is
transplanted into enucleated egg cells
normal development
Source of nucleus should be
undifferentiated cells of an embryo
because these cells are totipotent
Totipotency
Cells that retain the ability of the
zygote to give rise to all specialized
cells of a mature organism
Totipotent cells retain the ability to
proceed through all stages of
development and thus produce a
normal adult
Stages in cell type
formation
Cell determination
Stage when the cell becomes committed to
perform a specialized function
Involves cell memory that is self
perpetuating
Pre-requisite to differentiation
Cell differentiation
Expression of the cells predetermined
specialized role
The path a cell takes is
influenced by:
1. Environment (cytoplasmic)
Influences which genes turn on or off
2. Cell lineage
Activity of progeny cells affected by
progenitor cells
Progenitor cell gene activity pattern is
passed on to progeny cell
Cell lineage
Patterns of gene expression
is self-sustaining
1. Cytoplasmic memory

2. Nuclear memory or genome
imprinting
Patterns of gene expression
is self-sustaining
1. Cytoplasmic memory
something in the cytoplasm can
trigger the switching on or switching
off of genes

Patterns of gene expression
is self-sustaining
2. Nuclear memory or genome
imprinting
Self-sustaining changes
occurring/intrinsic to the chromosome
Selection of genes to be expressed
Condensation-decondensation pattern
of chromatin
Pattern of methylation of DNA

Natural test for Nuclear
Memory
1. Obtain egg and sperm cells
have identical set of genes but
different state of differentiation
Question: Do sperm and egg-derived
chromosomes remain functionally
different in zygote?
Yes, because of nuclear memory
Transplantation experiment
2 paternal nuclei defective zygote
2 maternal nuclei defective zygote
Maternal nucleus and paternal nucleus
normal zygote

Maternal and paternal chromosomes
express different genes due to nuclear
memory
Some genes are expressed are inherited
from the father and others from the mother