Segmental lineage restrictions in the chick embryo spinal cord depend on the adjacent somites

We have investigated whether the developing spinal cord is intrinsically segmented in its rostrocaudal (anteroposterior) axis by mapping the spread of clones derived from single labelled cells within the neural tube of the chick embryo. A single cell in the ventrolateral neural tube of the trunk was marked in situ with the fluorescent tracer lysinated rhodamine dextran (LRD) and its descendants located after two days of further incubation. We find that clones derived from cells labelled before overt segmentation of the adjacent mesoderm do not respect any boundaries within the neural tube. Those derived from cells marked after mesodermal segmentation, however, never cross an invisible boundary aligned with the middle of each somite, and tend to be elongated along the mediolateral axis of the neural tube. When the somite pattern is surgically disturbed, neighbouring clones derived from neuroectodermal cells labelled after somite formation behave like clones derived from younger cells: they no longer respect any boundaries, and are not elongated mediolaterally. These results indicate that periodic lineage restrictions do exist in the developing spinal cord of the chick embryo, but their maintenance requires the presence of the adjacent somite mesoderm.