Development and innervation of the abdominal muscle in embryonic Xenopus laevis

The morphogenesis and innervation of the ventral abdominal musculature in Xenopus embryos was examined using microscopic techniques. Muscle development begins at Nieuwkoop and Faber Stage 31, when aggregates of undifferentiated cells form on the ventrolateral margins of rostral trunk myotomes. During subsequent stages, aggregates form and detach from progressively more caudal myotomes to form a series of seven discrete cell clusters (anlagen). The anlagen migrate ventrally in a cell-free space between the epidermis and a subepidermal layer of pigment cells. Extracellular aggregates of 30-nm granules are evident transiently between the migrating anlagen and the epidermis. During stages 39 and 40, each anlage transforms into a sheet of myotubes which attaches rostrally and caudally to adjacent sheets to form a seven-segmented muscle. The series of broad segments, approximately one fiber thick, extends from the pericardium to the level of the proctodeum. The embryonic muscle is innervated by the ventral rami of spinal nerves 2 to 9. The major nerve trunks to the muscle develop between stages 35/36 and 40. Axons initially grow ventrally along the paths taken by the muscle anlagen. When the anlagen become muscle segments, the nerves are deep to the narrow boundaries between the segments. Spinal nerve 2 ramifies in the first muscle segment and sends fibers rostrally to the geniohyoid muscle. The findings represent the first description of the development of this muscle in Xenopus and the first account of the development of the abdominal motor nerves in an amphibian embryo.