Xenopus laevis Animal Cap/Dorsal Mesoderm Conjugates
This protocol was adapted from “Microdissection,” Chapter 10, in Early Development of Xenopus laevis by Hazel L. Sive, Robert M. Grainger, and Richard M. Harland. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 2000.INTRODUCTION
In Xenopus laevis, dorsal mesoderm is also called “organizer” tissue or Spemann’s organizer. It is fated to form the prechordal plate and notochord, as well as some somitic tissue. This protocol presents a method for the preparation of dorsal mesoderm conjugates, which can be useful in assessing whether test genes or promoters are responsive to dorsal mesodermal signals and, if so, by what region of the mesoderm they are induced. The example presented here is an animal cap/dorsal mesoderm conjugate.
