Analysis for the dorsalization potency of the animal blastomeres of the 16 cell stage Xenopus embryo

The dorso-ventral axis ofXenopus embryo is established after fertilization. Blastula stage blastomeres acquire different identities as they have inherited different maternal materials which distribute radial symmetrically along the animal vegetal aixs in the full-grown oocyte, and are rearranged by the cortical rotation triggered by fertilization. The vegetal blastmeres demonstrate the different dorsalization potencies in the previous transplantation experiments. The data of blastomere explanting and RT-PCR analyzing indicate that the dorsal ventral bias also exists among the animal blastomeres even during the early blastula stage.