Grafting analysis of the periodic albino mutant of Xenopus laevis

The differentiation of normal and mutant (a^P/a^P) Xenopus laevis melanophores in chimerae was analyzed to determine the tissues affected by this mutation. Normal melanophores in mutant host tissue differentiate in mutant host tissue prior to those of the mutant host. These normal melanophores were initially normal in appearance, but, after the differentiation of the mutant host's melanophores, they became indistinguishable from their host's melanophores. These normal melanophores persist in more than normally punctate form after the disappearance of the mutant host's melanophores in late larval life. Parabiosis and head transplants between mutant and normal embryos did not affect the character of either type of melanophore developing in tissue of its own genotype, indicating that the hormonal control of melanophore differentiation is not affected by the mutation. Therefore, the periodic albino mutant affects the capacity of the mutant melanophore to differentiate and the ability of the mutant skin to support normal melanophore differentiation.