Animal model: dysmorphogenesis and death in a chicken embryo model.

The chicken embryo is a useful animal model for investigating problems in developmental biology and teratology. Here we report data that further define the causes of 2 different patterns of malformation (one associated with amnion abnormalities, the other with isolated neural tube defects) and death induced by making a window in the shell and subshell membranes during the first day of incubation. The interpretation of these data suggests to us the following hypotheses. An early amnion deficit spectrum or syndrome (EADS) in chicken embryos is caused by a brief (less than 10 sec) perturbation that occurs during the windowing procedure. This perturbation results in an acute increase in mechanical tension to the developing embryo and support structures, dehydration localized to the area of the blastoderm, and/or increased friction between the blastoderm and overlying vitelline and shell membranes. Isolated neural tube defects (NTDs) are caused by a longer perturbation (greater than 3 hr) consisting of increased mechanical stress across the blastoderm. The mechanical stress is associated with the introduction of a new air space over the animal pole of the yolk during windowing. The new air space causes the shape of the yolk to change (ie, to be deformed), resulting in an increase in mechanical tension across the vitelline membrane and blastoderm. NTDs involving the head are associated with significant early embryonic mortality, whereas those involving the trunk are not. Death may also be caused by cardiovascular anomalies observed in EADS. It is concluded that disturbances in morphogenesis and death in this model are, therefore, the result of extrinsic forces (eg, mechanical stress, localized dehydration, or friction) acting on different tissue types at various critical times in development. Intensity and duration of these forces on the developing blastoderm are important variables.