The formation of the axonal pattern in the embryonic avian retina
- 22 February 1985
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Comparative Neurology
- Vol. 232 (4), 466-480
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.902320405
Abstract
Both the polarity of the axonal growth and the formation of the optic fiber pattern early in retinal morphogenesis were studied in silver stained whole mounts of embryonic chick, quail, and pigeon retinae. The surface area of the retina and of the optic fiber layer increases in size exponentially, the optic fiber layer expanding faster than the retina. The optic fiber layer covers the retinal surface at E5 in quail and at E6 in chick and pigeon. In all species studied, the retinal fiber layer does not expand homogeneously with the optic nerve head as the center. Instead, the retinal fiber layer enlarges with polarities in the dorsal to ventral and nasal to temporal direction. The very first axon bearing ganglion cells appear at stage 16 in the dorsal and central portion of the retina and grow ventrally to merge at the optic disk. From stage 23 on, the optic fiber layer expands faster in the temporal than in the nasal side. Measurements on the initial polarization of young axonal processes show that the axonal growth is directed toward the optic fissure and the optic nerve head. This growth polarization is found at the onset of growth cone formation and in axons far from the nearest ganglion cells or ganglion cell axons. Therefore axon-axon interaction cannot be involved in the initial axon orientation early in retinal morphogenesis.Keywords
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Axon growth in embryonic chick and quail retinal whole mounts in vitroDevelopmental Biology, 1984
- Self-renewal of stem cells and differentiation of nerve cells in the developing chick retinaDevelopmental Brain Research, 1983
- Binding of FITC-coupled peanut-agglutinin (FITC-PNA) to embryonic chicken retinas reveals developmental spatio-temporal patternsDevelopmental Brain Research, 1983
- Connective tissue morphogenesis by fibroblast tractionDevelopmental Biology, 1982
- Oriented extracellular channels and axonal guidance in the embryonic chick retinaDevelopmental Biology, 1981
- Ontogeny of the retina and optic nerve inXenopus laevis. II. Ontogeny of the optic fiber pattern in the retinaJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1980
- Axonal guidance during embryogenesis and regeneration in the spinal cord of the newt: The blueprint hypothesis of neuronal pathway patterningJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1979
- The guidance of optic axons in the developing and adult mouse retinaThe Anatomical Record, 1979
- Patterns of cell proliferation in the retina of the clawed frog during developmentJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1979
- An Improved Silver Stain for Developing Nervous TissueStain Technology, 1979