The origin and movement of prelung cells in the chick embryo as determined by radioautographic mapping.

The origin of the prelung cells was determined by tracing the movements of [H]thymidinelabelled grafts excised from medium-streak to 4-somite stage chick embryos and transplanted to the epiblast, streak, and endoderm-mesoderm of similarly staged recipient embryos. At the medium-streak stage the prelung endoderm cells are in the anterior third of the primitive streak; they shortly begin to migrate anteriorly and laterally into the endoderm layer. They are folded into the gut beginning at about the 4-somite stage, and begin to reach their definitive position in the ventrolateral gut wall at the .10to 16-somite stage. At the ± 22-somite stage the prelung endoderm begins to burrow into the overlying splanchnic layer of mesoderm, pushing the prelung mesoderm ahead of it. At the medium-streak stage the prelung mesoderm is in the epiblast (dorsal) layer about half-way to the lateral margin of the area pellucida on either side of the streak, at a level about half-way between the anterior and posterior ends of the streak. From this position the prelung mesoderm migrates medially to the streak and is invaginated into the mesoderm layer at a position about half-way between the anterior and posterior ends of the streak. As a section of the dorsal mesentery, it migrates anteriorly and laterally from the streak into the splanchnic mesoderm lateral to the somites. From the head process stage to the early somite stages, the prelung mesoderm is located posterior to the prelung endoderm. The prelung mesoderm continues to migrate with the splanchnic mesoderm into the mesentery dorsal to the heart, where it invests the prelung endoderm after the 16to 19-somite stage. Beginning at about the 22-somite stage, the prelung endoderm penetrates the prelung mesoderm and the bilateral bronchi are formed.