PROBING THE FUNCTIONS OF ENDOGENOUS LECTINS - EFFECTS OF A MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY AGAINST THE NEURAL CREST-STAGE LECTIN OF XENOPUS-LAEVIS ON TRUNK DEVELOPMENT

Trunk neural crest of Xenopus laevis has been confronted prior to migr ation with whole or fragments of a monoclonal antibody raised against the carbohydrate-binding site of the endogenous neural crest-stage gal actoside binding lectin (Milos et al.: Anat. Embryol., 182:319-327 '90 ). External fin formation was inhibited in confronted regions but exte nsive internal matrix develops suggesting interiorization of fin tissu e. In the regions of missing fin, the myotomes overgrew the neural tub e and dorsal root ganglion neuronal numbers became more variable. Mela nophore numbers in regions of missing fin did not change but a signifi cantly greater proportion of the pigment cells localized on the muscle surface that had overgrown the neural tube suggesting that the pigmen t cell population redistributed itself to occupy a greater myotomal ar ea.