Mosaic versus regulation development in avian blastoderms depends on the spatial distribution of Rauber's sickle material

We describe how to prepare unincubated avian eggs to obtain a greater number of clearly visible Rauber's sickles for experimental embryology. After hemi‐sectioning of unincubated chicken ( Gallus domesticus ) blastoderms and cultivating both halves in vitro, two kinds of development can be discerned: (1) when the unincubated blastoderms were hemi‐sectioned according to the plane of bilateral symmetry, going through the middle region of Rauber's sickle, we obtained two hemi‐embryos (a left and a right one). Each contained a half primitive streak, localized at the cut edge (starting from the most median part of Rauber's sickle) giving rise to a half mesoblast mantle and half area vasculosa, thus indicating mosaic development (each part of the whole fertilized egg would be able to form independently on its own). (2) When the unincubated blastoderm is hemi‐sectioned more obliquely, going through a more lateral part of Rauber's sickle (sickle horn), two complete bilaterally symmetrically miniature embryos will form, indicating the so‐called regulation phenomena. We demonstrate that these two types of development are in reality due to the different spreading and concentration of Rauber's sickle tissue (containing γ ooplasm) around the area centralis. Embryonic regulation thus must not be considered as a kind of totipotent regeneration capacity of isolated parts of the unincubated avian blastoderm, but depends on the spatial distribution of a kind of extraembryonic tissue (Rauber's sickle) built up by the oblique uptake of γ ooplasm (ooplasmic mosaicism) at the moment of bilateral symmetrization (Callebaut [1994] Eur Arch Biol 105:111–123; Callebaut [2005] Dev Dyn 233:1194–1216). J. Morphol., 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.