The Timing of Appearance and Pathway of Migration of Cranial Neural Crest-derived Precursors of Melanocytes in Chick Embryos

The timing of appearance and pathway of migration of precursors of melanocytes in cranial regions of chick embryos were examined by the monoclonal antibody MEBL-1, which can identify precursors of melanocytes soon after their emigration from the neural tube (7). Precursors of melanocytes were first detected on the dorsal side of the mesencephalic neural tube at stage 16, when other neural crest cells had already left the dorsal side of the neural tube. Then precursors of melanocytes at more rostral and caudal levels appeared. After the first appearance on the neural tube, precursors of melanocytes migrated along a dorsolateral pathway under the superficial ectoderm, which followed other neural crest cells. These results indicate that precursors of melanocytes migrate along spatially the same pathway as other neural crest cells, but temporally the different time as considered previously.