Figure 1. Regeneration of the tail. A: Time course of tail regeneration. Unoperated tail is shown at the top (WT), labeled to show the arrangement of the axial tissues. Note that the spinal cord lies on top of the notochord and is hard to see. After removal of the posterior 20% of the tail length, the extent of regeneration is shown after 1, 4, 10, and 14 days. Note the continuity of the axial structures between the original and regenerated tissues. B: Schematic of a transverse section through a Xenopus tadpole tail to show the arrangement of the tissues that must be regenerated. C: Sagittal section through a 3 day regenerating tadpole tail to show the spinal cord terminating in the blind-ended neural ampulla. The neural ampulla typically contains an enlarged lumen, continuous with the lumen of the stump spinal cord. The vacuolated notochord cells of the stump are continuous with a bullet-shaped structure composed of cells resembling the sheath cells that surround the notochord; later on, these cells will vacuolate and enlarge, becoming indistinguishable from the stump notochord cells. There are also undifferentiated, mesenchymal-like cells found around these two structures. White arrows indicate amputation plane. Scale bar = 200 μm.
Image published in: Beck CW et al. (2009)
Copyright © 2009. Image reproduced with permission of the Publisher, John Wiley & Sons.
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