Developmental Potential of Quail Analyzed in vitro and in vivo Dorsal Ganglion

The cell types present in quail dorsal root ganglia during early development were identified using markers for neurons, glial cells, and fibroblasts (Rohrer et al., 1985). Using the quailchick transplantation technique, the potential of quail dorsal root ganglion cells to differentiate to adrenergic chromafikr cells, as identified by tyrosine hydroxylase immunostaining, was analyzed. A population of undifferentiated cells, which is present in quail dorsal root ganglia at embryonic day 5, was separated from neurons and glial cells. We show that this population contains cells that differentiate to adrenergic chromaffin cells after back-transplantation into 2-d-old chick embryos. A huge proportion of these undifferentiated cells also differentiates to neurons in vitro. Precursors for adrenal chromaffin cells and for neurons are present in dorsal root ganglia in significant numbers only during early development.