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To test whether gravity is required for normal amphibian development, Xenopus laevis females were induced to ovulate aboard the orbiting Space Shuttle. Eggs were fertilized in vitro, and although early embryonic stages showed some abnormalities, the embryos were able to regulate and produce nearly normal larvae. These results demonstrate that a vertebrate can ovulate in the virtual absence of gravity and that the eggs can develop to a free-living stage.
FIG. 1. Sagittal sections of gastrulae (stage 101/4) showing differences between embryos developed on the 1 x g centrifuge (A) and those
developed at microgravity (B). The microgravity sample generally showed thicker blastocoel roofs comprising more cell layers than in the 1 x g
controls; and the dorsal lip of the blastopore (bp) formed nearer the vegetal pole than in the 1 x g controls. Embryos were fixed inflight and stained
with hematoxylin, eosin-B, phloxine-B, and fast green.
FIG. 2. The lung buds and tracheae of tadpoles developed in microgravity were generally not inflated. Transverse sections of tadpoles fixed
inflight at stage 45 showed inflated lung buds in the 1 x g group (A) and uninflated lung buds in the microgravity group (B). Tadpoles were fixed
inflight and stained with nuclear fast red, aniline blue, and orange G. Anatomical features noted are neural tube (nt), notochord (nc), somite (s),
pronephros (p), lung bud (lb), and intestine (i). Six loops of the intestine are visible in this section.
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