An autoradiographic analysis of the potency of embryonic ectoderm in the 8th day postimplantation mouse embryo.

The potency of 8th day mouse embryonic ectoderm cells has been studied by injecting them into synchronous embryos which were subsequently cultured for 36 h. The development of injected embryos in vitro was comparable to that of embryos maintained in vivo. Tritiated thymidine was used to label the donor cells so that chimaerism could be analysed histologically. The results demonstrate the pluripotency of embryonic ectoderm in situ in the late primitive-streak-stage embryo. In addition, the patterns of donor cell colonization vary according to the site of origin and injection of the donor tissue.