Abnormal development of vertebrae in paralyzed chick embryos.

Ventral bars, cartilaginous projections from the ventral aspect of the synsacrum that contact and form a joint with the ilium, were found in all normal chick embryos of age E9 and older. Bars were absent in a number of embryos which had been paralyzed from age E4 by the use of the acetylcholine receptor blocker alpha-bungarotoxin. They were also absent in some embryos that had been paralyzed between ages E4 and E10 but allowed to move thereafter. The bars, already formed, remained present in a third group of embryos in which paralysis was initiated age E10. Apparently, normal embryonic movements induce the formation of bars. In support of this conclusion is the observation that two of three embryos which had had their hindlimb buds amputated at age E3 lacked bars. In these embryos with amputations, the ilium was present at least in part, but the forces exerted on the region where the bars develop would have been greatly reduced because of the lack of hind limb musculature. It is concluded that the bars, which form part of the iliosynsacral joint, are induced epigenetically by normal embryonic movements.