Nuclear transplantation in Bombina orientalis and utilization of the Pale mutation as a nuclear marker

The discoglossid frog, Bombina orientalis, displays many characteristics that make it desirable as a laboratory animal. We report here the first successful transplantation of embryonic nuclei into enucleated eggs of this organism. The participation of the grafted nucleus in the development of the transplant embryos was confirmed with the use of a genetic marker, the Pale mutation. Frogs homozygous for this recessive gene are much lighter in appearance than the wild-type animals. The use of this trait in appropriate experiments demonstrated that nuclear transplantation in B. orientalis provides embryos whose nuclei may be reliably interpreted as being derived from the injected nucleus.