Axolotl

Eisthen H.L., Sengelaub D., Schroeder D. and Alberts J. (1994). Anatomy and forebrain projections of the olfactory and vomeronasal organs in Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum). Brain Behav Evol 44, 108-124. 

Koniski, A., and Cohen, N., Mitogen-activated axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) spleno-cytes produce a cytokine that promotes growth of homologous lymphoblasts, Dev. Comp. Immunol., 18, 239, 1994. 

Brew, H. and Attwell, D. (1987) Electrogenic glutamate uptake is a major current carrier in the membrane of axolotl retinal glial cells. Nature 327,707-709. 

Slooff, W. and Baerselman, R. Comparison of the nsefnlness of the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanuni) and the clawed toad (Zenopus laevis) in toxicological bioassays, BuU. Environ. Contam. Toxicol., 24(3) 439-443, 1980. 

Preliminary investigations of the teratogenic character of MYKO 63 were performed on amphibians (pleurodeles and/or axolotls) by R. Departs, A. Jaylet and A. M. Dup-rat at the Laboratoire de Biologie Generate, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse. The main results of their studies are as follows. 

The amphibian metamorphosis test is based on the ability of thyroid hormones to induce precocious transformation of a tadpole into a frog or of the axolotl into a salamander. It is rarely used because of solubility problems and the difficulty of applying the results to humans. 

Pleurodeles waltl and Ambystoma mexicanum (axolotl), bred in many laboratories, were chosen because of the abundance of mucins which surround their eggs. The first analyses led to the isolation of Lewis and Lewis antigenic determinants, which are known to be related to human tumor-associated antigens. For these reasons, the jelly coats of amphibian eggs could represent a valuable model to examine 0-linked carbohydrate structures during evolution, associated with a possible function involving specific markers for the fertilization process. 

Carlson, M.R., Bryant, S.V., Gardiner, D.M. 1998. Expression of Msx-2 during development, regeneration, and wound healing in axolotl limbs. J. Exp. Zool. 282, 715-723. 

These experiments clearly point to changes in local microenvironment, presumably ECM, as triggering crest cell dispersal in the axolotl, even though the molecules responsible are not known. Moreover, avian migratory stage crest cells do not migrate into early somitic tissue that is hetero-chronically transplanted, in contrast to their response to older somites (Bronner-Fraser and Stem,... 

Lbfberg, J., Ahlfors, K. and Fallstrom, C. (1980) Neural crest cell migration in relation to extracellular matrix organization in the embryonic axolotl trunk. Dev. Biol. 75 148-167. 

Lbfberg, J., Nynas-McCoy, A., Olsson, C., Jbnsson, L. and Perris, R. (1985) Stimulation of initial neural crest cell migration in the axolotl embryo by tissue grafts and extracellular matrix transplanted on microcarriers. Dev. Biol. 107 442 59. 

Griersmith, B.T. and Mark, R.F. (1982) Behavioral and elec-trophysiological study of cutaneous trigeminal nerves in axolotls. II. The effects of cross-anastomosis of nerves. Brain Res. 254 287-301. 

Olsson L, Stigson M, Perris R, Sorrell JM, Lofberg J. Distribution of keratan sulphate and chondroitin sulphate in wild type and white mutant axolotl embryos during neural crest cell migration. Pigment Cell Res 1996 9 5-17. 

In many eukaryotes, there are multiple copies of histone genes and this may allow a rapid rate of histone synthesis particularly during embryonic development. In the axolotl, there are as many as 1600 copies, whereas in yeast there are only two. Avian species do have multiple copies, although the number is modest (see below) compared with many other eukaryotes. The rapid rate of histone synthesis required during embryonic chick development appears to be achieved by having a high steady-state level of... 

CHEMICAL SIGNALS AND VOMERONASAL SYSTEM FUNCTION IN AXOLOTLS (AMBYSTOMA... 

In axolotls, as in most other salamanders, the vomeronasal organ consists of a pouch that protrudes from the lateral edge of the nasal cavity (Figure 1). The vomeronasal organ... 

Figure 1. Cross section through the snout of an axolotl, decalcified and stained with cresylecht violet. The midline of the snout is shown on the left, lateral is to the right, and the dorsal surface of the snout is toward the top. This section is taken through the point at which the vomeronasal organ connects with the nasal cavity. The vomeronasal organ is lined with vomeronasal sensory epithelium (vom), and the medial portions of the nasal cavity are lined with olfactory epithelium (olf).

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