| Abstract: | The manufacture of mammalian chimeras by aggregating embryos of different genetic constitutions makes possible the study of the genetic control of cellular interactions during embryonic development. Several different chimeric combinations have been made to study the role of the sex-reversed mutation in gonadogenesis and in gametogenesis. Sex reversed directs the gonad to become a testis and thus renders a SxrXX mouse sterile since gonocytes with two X chromosomes cannot complete gametogenesis in a testis. However, SxrXX gonocytes in the ovary of a female chimera become normal oocytes. The competitive interactions of genetically different melanoblasts in populating hair follicles and of primordial germ cells in populating the gonad have been revealed in chimeras. Chimeras have also been used to rescue inviable teraploid embryos and to permit teteraploid cells to display their differentiative capacities in normal tissue environments. We conclude that the genotype affects the capacity of cells to elaborate and to respond to inductive stimuli at each step in differentiation. The fine tuning of cellular interactions becomes apparent in chimeras made from embryos of different genotype. |
