[Retinal differentiation of turkey embryos of various ages in organotypical cultures]

Retinas of 7-, 11- and 21-day-old turkey embryos were labelled with 3H-thymidine before their organotypic cultivation and in culture. It has been stated that at the beginning of cultivation the retinas of various ages preserve their histological structure. In immature retinas the nuclei continue their vertical migration with subsequent arrangement of primarily indifferent labelled (and non-labelled) cells in regular layers of the differentiated retina, the same as it occurs at in vivo development. In culture of the differentiated embryonic retina further development is stopped. Müller's and supposed glial cells dedifferentiate and proliferate, that results in a pronounced gliosis, similar to lesions in vivo.