Gastrulation in the sea urchin involves an extensive rearrangement of
cells of the archenteron giving rise to secondary mesenchyme at the ar
chenteron tip followed by the foregut, midgut and hindgut. To examine
the regulative capacity of this structure, pieces of the archenteron w
ere removed or transplanted at different stages of gastrulation. After
removal of any or all parts of the archenteron, the remaining veg 1 a
nd/or veg 2 tissue regulated to replace the missing parts, Endoderm tr
ansplanted to ectopic positions also regulated to that new position in
the archenteron. This ability to replace or regulate endoderm did not
decline until after full elongation of the archenteron was completed.
When replacement occurred, the new gut was smaller relative to the re
maining embryo but the recognizable morphology of the archenteron was
re-established. Long after the archenteron reveals territorial specifi
cation through expression of specific markers, the endodermal cells re
main capable of being respecified to other gut regions. Thus, for much
of gastrulation, the gut is conditionally specified. We propose that
this regulative ability requires extensive and continuous short-range
communication between cells of the archenteron in order to reorganize
the tissues and position the boundaries of this structure even after e
xperimental alterations.