Neurogenesis during caudal spinal cord regeneration in adult newts

After tail amputation in urodele amphibians, dramatic changes appear in the spinal cord rostral to the amputation level. Transection induces a prolife ration response in cells lining the ependymal canal, giving rise to an epen dymal tube in which neurogenesis occurs. Using the thymidine analog bromode oxyuridine (BrdU) in short- and long-term labeling of cells undergoing DNA synthesis (S phase of the cell cycle), specific cell markers, and cell cult ures, we show that neurons derive from the proliferative ependymal layer of the ependymal tube.