Comparison of DNA and RNA synthesis in dorsal and ventral frog embryo ectoderm during gastrulation

Summary A comparison of the rates of DNA and RNA synthesis of the dorsal gastrula ectoderm being induced to form neural tissue with the uninduced ventral ectoderm has been made for developing embryos ofRana pipiens. There was a higher rate of DNA synthesis per cell in the dorsal ectoderm, but the rates of RNA synthesis per cell in the induced and uninduced ectoderm were similar. The rate of RNA synthesis based on an equivalent amount of total protein was greater for the induced than for the unindueed ectoderm. This is ascribed to the presence of more cells in the induced ectoderm and this is substantiated by the higher DNA/protein ratio for the induced than for the uninduced ectoderm.This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (GM 16236-03) and the National Science Foundation (GB 8029).