The mechanism of somite segmentation in the chick embryo

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Abstract
The segmentation of somites in the chick embryo has been studied by transmission and scanning electron microscopy (stages 8–14). The segmental plate mesoderm consists of loosely arranged mesenchymal cells, whereas the newly formed somites are composed of elongated, spindle-shaped cells arranged radially around a lumen, the myocoele. The diameter of each somite is thus two cells plus the myocoele. Two major factors appear to be responsible for the change in cell shape at segmentation: Because it is anchored at both ends, each somite cell is under tension in much the same way as a fibroblast cell in tissue culture is under tension. Each somite cell therefore becomes elongated and the somite as a whole accommodates its general shape to that of the space available between the adjacent tissues. The arrangement of the cells in the more differentiated somites (stages 17–18) has also been examined and it has been found that the chick resembles Xenopus in that the myotome cells undergo rotation and become orientated in an anteroposterior direction.