Cell movements in Xenopus eye development

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Abstract
The vertebrate eye develops morphological markers, e.g., the ventral choroid fissure, which define its anatomical polarity in relation to the body. Retinal nerve fibers behave as though regionally differentiated by forming ordered, topographical maps of the visual field in the brain. A radioactive tag was used to mark the neural retina and pigment epithelium during normal development in X. laevis. Cells in the ventral retina, where the choroid fissure forms, moved into position from the optic stalk region during eye-cup formation. Depending on developmental stage, surgical eye rotations may intercept their movement. This explains reported changes from a labile to a determined state of eye polarity.