Mouse chick chimera: a new model to study the in ovo developmental potentialities of mammalian somites

Chimeras were prepared by transplanting somites from 9-day post-coïtum mouse embryos or somitic dermomyotomes from 10-day post-coïtum mouse embryos into 2-day-old chick embryos at different axial levels. Mouse somitic cells then differentiated in ovo in dermis, cartilage and skeletal muscle as they normally do in the course of development and were able to migrate into chick host limb. To trace the behavior of somitic myogenic stem cells more closely, somites arising from mice bearing a transgene of the desmin gene linked to a reporter gene coding for Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase (lacZ) were grafted in ovo. Interestingly, the transgene was rapidly expressed in myotomal muscles derived from implants. In the limb muscle mass, positive cells were found several days after implantation. Activation of desmin nls lacZ also occurred in in vitro cultures of somite-derived cells. Our experimental method facilitates investigation of the mechanisms of mammalian development, allowing the normal fate of implanted mouse cells to be studied and providing suitable conditions for identification of descendants of genetically modified cells.