Group 3: Submitted on: September 13, 2006

David Earl Dadivas

Rose Ann Esteban
Karyl Sabrina Javellana
Methence Tayuba

LABORATORY ACTIVITY
GASTRULATION

1. Study slides and models showing gatrulation.

2. Draw frog embryos as seen in x.s. and w.m. preparations. Identify and label
the following parts:
a. germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm, mesoderm
b. dorsal and ventral lips of blastopore
c. gray crescent area
d. chordomesodermal mantle
e. archenteron
f. yolk plug
g. prechordal plate

3. Compare and contrast appearance of frog gastrula with Amphioxus, bird/

reptilian embryos at same stage. Draw and label.
Gastrulation in amphibians is initiated by invagination of cells to form the dorsal lip of the
blastopore. This is followed by pushing out of the ectoderm, and inward movement of the
endoderm and yolk. The archenteron is formed and the blastocoel is slowly filled with
cells and lost. For a short time the yolk-filled cells of the vegetal pole remain to fill the
space between the dorsal and ventral lip of the blastopore, thus forming the yolk plug.

The endoderm gradually differentiates from the rest of the cells of the gastrula; as do the
chordamesoderm cells which go on to form the notochord.

After this stage, the gastrula then progresses into the neural tube formation stage, called
neurulation.

In amphioxus, gastrulation begins by the flattening of the blastula, loss of the blastocoel
and formation of another cavity--the archenteron. The archenteron is the embryonic gut
cavity that is lined with endoderm. Thus, after flattening we can distinguish two cell
layers in the amphioxus: ectoderm and endoderm.

In the amphioxus blastula, we can also identify the cells that will go to form the
notochord, which are called chordamesoderm, or the longitudinal middorsal group of
mesodermal cells that moves into the roof of the archenteron during gastrulation and
gives rise to the notochord,

After flattening, the process of folding continues to further form the archenteron as well
as the blastopore, or external opening of the gastrula.

Within the gastrula further differentiation of cells occurs through the process of budding
off mesodermal cells to form pouches that will later become organs. Within these
pouches are spaces that will become the body cavity or coelom. In addition, the
notochord formation proceeds with the condensing of the chordarmesoderm into the
notochord. The neural tube then forms from pinching of the ectoderm over the
notochord.
There are two processes leading to cell movement in the chick embryo. The first is
delamination, or downward movement of cells to form a new layer near the yolk. The
other form of movement is ingression, or the longitudinal movement of cells along the
surface of the yolk.

What forms during delamination are two layers of cells: the hypoblast and the epiblast,
with a cavity in between comparable to the blastocoel in amphibians. Separation of
these two layers results in the formation of two regions of the blastodisk: the area opaca
and the area pellucida.

During delaminination the primitive streak forms, which is a longitudinal thickening of

cells along the blastoderm of large-yolked eggs through which prospective
chordamesoerm and mesoderm cells move inward. During primitive streak formation,
endodermal cells replace the cells of the hypoblast.

The primitive streak lengthens along the surface of the yolk through ingression. Thus,
the embryo grows longer and occupies more of the area pellucida.

After gastrulation, the process of neurulation, or formation of the neural tube and
associated structures, occurs.

4. Enumerate the types of morphogenetic movements employed by vertebrate

embryos in gastrulation. Give examples for each type.

a) Invagination – When a sheet of cells (called an epithelial sheet) bends

inward.
Example: In gastrulation of Amphioxus, the blastoderm of the
vegetal pole bends inward to form a cup-shaped gastrula embryo with a cavity
(archenteron) inside and an opening to the exterior (blastopore).

b) Ingression- When individual cells leave an epithelial sheet and become freely
migrating mesenchyme cells.
Example: In gastrulation of birds, cells move into interior, resulting in
the disappearance of whole areas of blastoderm from the surface. These are
replaced by areas moving towards the midline.
c) Involution – When an epithelial sheet rolls inward to form an underlying layer.
Example: In amphibian gastrulation, the blastoderm cells (excluding
the animal region) roll into the interior through the blastopore. The invaginated cells
line the cavity of the archenteron in the interior.

d) Epiboly - When a sheet of cells spreads by thinning.

Example: In amphibian gastrulation an expansion of the dorsal
blastoderm takes place due to thinning. As the layer of cells expands, cells are
pushed around the lips of the blastopore into the interior.

e) Immigration – The coordinated mass movements of cells down from surface to

interior of embryo.
Example: In gastrulation of birds, the epiblast cells move downward,
singly, toward the hypoblast, spread sideways and forward from the anterior end of
the primitive streak.