In situ hybridization analysis of globin mRNAs in the primitive erythroid cells of the chick embryo.

The possibility that the minor embryonic chick hemoglobins might be present in a particular subgroup of primitive erythroid cells has been investigated by in situ hybridization. Probe to detect the mRNA for the alpha A globin chain of the minor embryonic hemoglobin was used, and the results of the hybridization were compared with those obtained using as probes the cDNAs for total globin mRNAs. All erythroid cells circulating in a 4-day-old chick embryo gave positive signals with both probes at an approximately constant ratio. This shows that all cells contain a similar assortment of hemoglobin types, excluding the possibility that a subgroup might contain the minor primitive hemoglobins exclusively. However, the cells are not homogeneous, since about 10% of them show a distinctly higher concentration of mRNA of all globin types.