Production of quail-chick chimaeras by blastoderm cell transfer

1. Quail-chick chimaeras were produced by injecting dissociated quail blastoderm cells into chick embryos. 2. Quail blastoderms were removed from the yolk and the cells were dispersed by trypsin treatment or pipetting. The cell suspension (1 to 5 microliters) was injected into the subgerminal cavity of unincubated chick embryos. The chick embryos were then cultured in recipient eggshells. 3. Quail blastoderm cells injected into the chick embryos adhered to the chick embryonic cells. The rates of hatching were 8.6% (38 chicks from 441 eggs) and 40.3% (48 chicks from 119 eggs) when the volumes of the cell suspension injected were 3 to 5 microliters and 1 microliter, respectively. 4. Seven out of 86 hatched birds were clearly identified as being chimaeric because part of the feather colouring was of quail specificity. In addition to these chimaeric birds, there were 8 chimaeric embryos which died before hatching. The distribution patterns of the quail feathers were varied among the chimaeric birds and embryos. 5. This technique provides a basis for the investigation of chick embryo cryopreservation, genetic transformation and analysis of cell lineage of chickens.