Xenopus Explants and Transplants

There is a long tradition of testing the developmental potential and competency of different regions of the embryo by transplanting tissue to novel locations or by growing isolated tissue in explant culture. The protocols introduced here describe several types of embryological manipulations in Xenopus that are particularly useful for analyzing tissue inductive signals, cell migration, and organogenesis. These techniques draw upon classical approaches that are quite easy to perform in both Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis embryos.