An ultrastructural study of the maternal-effect embryos of the ac/ac mutant of Pleurodeles waltl showing a gastrulation defect

Embryos of the ac/ac maternal-effect mutant in Pleurodeles waltl show disturbed epibolic movement during gastrulation. At the early gastrula stage, ectoderm cells begin to sink in at random sites in the animal half of the embryo. At the advanced gastrula stage the ectodermal pits develop into grooves. Electron microscopical analysis shows that many cells in the bottom of the pits and grooves have narrowed apices and bear many microvilli, while the cortical cytoplasm is dense, filamentous and underlain by a stratum of vesicles. These findings are interpreted as indicating that ectoderm cells contract rather than expand leading to disturbed epibolic movement.