Printed in Great Britain Chondrogenesis in chick embryo somites in vitro

During the embryonic development of vertebral cartilages, cells from the somite mesoderm differentiate into chondrocytes around the spinal cord and notochord. Grafting experiments in amphibian and chick embryos have indicated that the spinal cord and notochord have some influence on this differentiation of somite cells to cartilage (Holtzer & Detwiler, 1953; Watterson, Fowler & Fowler, 1954). Further analysis in vitro has established that, under specified culture conditions, cartilage formation from somites is, in fact, dependent on the presence of either spinal cord and/or notochord or thei