Abstract
An investigation was performed on a method for detecting abnormalities in central nervous system, viscera and skeletons in chicken embryos. The examination of the nervous system and viscera was performed on embryos that had been fixed with BOUIN's solution for more than a week, basically accoding to the methods of WILSON (1965) or BARROW & TAYLOR (1969) designed for mammalian fetuses, but with occasional modifications when required. As a result, the present procedure proved to be an excellent method. When 6-aminonicotinamide was injected into yolk sac, hypoplasia of the heart in one case, hypoplasia of the left hepatic lobe in another case were found, indicating the effectiveness of this method as a teratological test.
To examine the skeleton, embryos fixed with ethanol were skinned, defatted in acetone, cleared with 1% aqueous KOH containing 0.1% H2O2, and stained with alizarin red S. As a result, good stained specimens were obtained. Skeletal specimens were also prepared from 6-aminonicotinamide-treated embryos. These specimens revealed fused cervical vertebrae, fused lumbosacral vertebrae, delayed ossification of the caudal vertebrae, uncinate process, sternebrae, and digitus manus bones. These findings indicate that this method can serve as a useful teratological test.
