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Vet Embryo 8

Exercise 8
Embryology
The 72-hour Chick Embryo

For this exercise please refer to the book by Patten’s or Carlson for your guidance.
By this stage of incubation, the cranial flexure has bent the head so that the eyes are pointing
posteriorly, and the accentuated cervical flexure carries the myelecephalon and the spinal cord out to
the left from the original midline of the embryo. The general shape of the entire embryo at this stage
maybe compared to a reserved question mark. It lies on its left side to a point posterior to the heart
and the intestinal portal. The portion of the embryo posterior to the amniotic raphe is still in the
dorsoventral position.
The brain at this stage shows considerable enlargement, with thickenings and thinnings of the
wall at various levels. The epiphysis can be made out distinctly for the first time in a whole mount.
Locate the previously dercribed landmarks of the major brain vesicles, the five parts of the eye and
ear vesicles.
Anterior and dorsal to the first visceral cleft locate the darkened mass of the fifth (V) cranial
ganglion. More dorsally and just anterior to the auditory (otic) vesicle find the seventh (VII), and
possibly the eight (VIII) cranial ganglia close to the auditory capsule itself. Posterior to this ear vesicle
find the smaller ninth (IX) cranial ganglion. These will be particularly clear in the more transparent
specimens, and consist of only placodes will be again located in transverse sections. All ganglia are
paired. Other changes to note in the whole mounts are.
1. Lengthening of the foregut toward the infundibular region.
2. Further development of the visceral clefts.
3. Further twisting of the heart and enlargement of the aortic arches.
4. First undercutting of the posterior end of the embryo to form the subcaudal pocket, the
hindgut and the posterior intestinal portal.
During this stage the structures you identified in the 55-hour chick have undergone further
development; and new structures have also appeared. Review the whole mount of the 55- hour chick
and compare it with the whole mount of 72- hour chick.
1. Changes in the external features of the 72- hour chick.
Examine a whole mount of 72- hour chick under scanner (be very careful to avoid
breakage of the slide!) and observe the progress of torsion and flexion since they first
occurred in the 55- hour chick.
1a. Torsion -- in the last exercise you learned that he 55- hour chick embryo has undergone
torsion or twisting in the upper half of its body, with the left side of the head and pharyngeal
regions lying on the yolk. In the 72- hour chick torsion has progressed caudally except at the
tail region where the embryo has not yet completely turned on its side.
1b. Flexion -- or bending of the chick on its long axis, has also progressed such that the
midregion of the embryo bends at a right angle and the entire chick appears like a reserved
question mark. The casual flexure (tail bend) also becomes more pronounced
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1c. Visceral cleft IV -- has appeared caudal to the three clefts formed in the 55- hour chick.
The visceral arches are thicker and more conspicuous in the72- hour chick. the aortic arches
(arterial vessels) are seen running through the substance of the visceral arches and connecting
with the dorsal aorta dorsally.
1d. The oral region since the ventral surface of the head faces the pharynx and the heart in
the whole mount, the oral region of the embryo is difficult to observe. The head should be cut
from the body and viewed ventrally to see the mouth and the surrounding structures.
The ventral surface of the head presents the stomodaeum or oral depression. This
depression, which eventually becomes the mouth or oral cavity, is bounded caudally on the
either side, by the mandibular processes, and cephalically and laterally by the maxillary
processes. These mandibular and maxillary processes are both derived from visceral arch I
(mandibular arch). The rostral part of the head overhangs the oral depression, and two nasal
or olfactory pits appear as shallow depressions I the ectoderm if this rostral portion of the
head.
1e. Nasal pits -- each nasal pit surrounded by a U- shaped elevation with its limb directed
toward the oral cavity. The lateral limb of the elevation is the lateral nasal process while the
median limb is the median nasal process.
1f. The appendage buds (limb buds) -- the limb buds will become the forelimbs (wings) and
hindlimb of the chick. Both the anterior and posterior limb buds have appeared in the 72-
hour chick embryo. The anterior limb buds arise opposite the 17th to 19th somites just caudal
to the heart, while the posterior limb buds arise opposite the 26th to 32nd somites at the tail
region.
1g. Allantois- another new structure which has appeared in the 72- hour chick embryo is the
allantois. This extraembryonic membrane which you have studied in the lecture, is still small
and is concealed by the posterior limb buds.
2. Changes in the Nervous system of the 72-hour chick embryo
In the 55-hour chick embryo the cranial flexure has resulted in the bending of the brain so
that the entire prosencephalon is displaced ventrally toward the heart. Also as you have read
earlier, the head has undergone torsion and now lies with its left side on the yolk.
2a. Formation of the lateral telencephalic vesicles. By the 3rd day of incubation the
telencephalon presents a pair of lateral vesicles, one on either side of the midline. These are
the lateral telencephalic vesicles. The lateral telocoeles communicate with the median
telocoele through tiny openings, the interventicular foramina which later becomes the
Formina of Monro. The anterior wall of the median telocoele is the most rostral part of the
brain and is termed the lamina terminalis. The lateral telecephalic becomes the paired lateral
ventricles (ventricles I and II) of the brain. The medial telocoele becomes part of the Ventricle
III. Later in development the cerebral hemispheres grow enormously and extend dorsally,
caudally, laterally, and cranially eventually covering the entire diencephalon and
mesencephalon. The cerebral hemispheres (cerebrum) is the center for memory and
conditioned actions.
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3. Development of the sense organs. The three sense organs which have made their appearance
in the 72-hour chick embryo are the eye, the ear and the olfactory organ.
4. The digestive and respiratory systems- when the foregut is first established, it ends blindly in
the cephalic region. In the 55- hour chick the foregut evaginates cephalic to the mandibular
arc and fuses with the stomodeal ectoderm to form the oral plate. In the 72- hour chick the
oral plate ruptures to establish the oral opening. A small pocket of the foregut called the
Seessel’s pocket or pre-oral gut extends cephalic to the oral opening. The Seessel’s pocket
later disappears without giving rise to any adult structure. The stomodaeum has deepened to
form the oral cavity and the oral opening is brought further caudally. The lung buds arise as
paired structures resulting from a bifurcation at the end of the laryngotracheal groove. The
lung buds are invested by the splanchnic mesoderm and are contained in the pleural region of
the intraembryonic coelom (pleural cavity). The lung buds are more often seen in the 96-hour
chick than in the 72-hour chick embryo.
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Parts of the 72-hour Chick Embryo

1 = Auditive (otic) vesicle

2 = Myelencephalon
3 = Metencephalon
4 = Amnion
5 = Mesencephalon
6 = Optic vesicle + lens
7 = Diencephalon
8 = Epiphyse
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9 = Telencephalon
10 = Branchial arches
11 = Heart
12 = Forelimb (wing) bud
13 = Vitelline arteria/vein
14 = Hindlimb (leg) bud
15 = Tail
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72-Hour Chick Embryo

SAQs
1. What is the first indication of the developing respiratory system? __________________

2. How many pair of somites are there in a 72-hour chick embryo? ___________________

3. What structures make up allantois? ________________________________________

4. What are the functions of the allantois in the birds? __________________

_______________________________________________________________________.

5. What are the functions of allantois in mammals? _______________________________

____________________________________________________________________

6. Give 5 structure that appear in the 72-hour chick embryo but not in the 55-hour chick embryo

_______________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

7. Give the adult fate of the following:

a. Laryngotracheal groove _______________________________

b. Mesocoele ____________________________

c. Olfactory pit ___________________________

d. Rathke’s pocket ________________________

e. Lateral telocoele _______________________

f. Seessel’s pocket _____________________________

g. Stomodaeum ________________________________

h. Lateral telencephalic vesicles _________________________

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