The effect of vitamin A on limb regeneration in Rana temporaria

Abstract

Previous experiments in which vitamin A has been administered to developing or regenerating limbs have shown that different limb axes are affected. In regenerating axolotl limbs, serial reduplications in the proximodistal axis are produced. In the developing chick limb bud, mirror-imaged reduplications in the anteroposterior axis are produced. Results reported here on Rana temporaria limb buds reveal that vitamin A causes both effects to occur. That is, limbs are both serially reduplicated in the proximodistal axis and mirror imaged in the anteroposterior axis. Time and concentration effects are explored and the significance of these results for our current understanding of axial organisation in limbs is discussed.