Tooth induction in chick epithelium: expression of quiescent genes for enamel synthesis.

Intraocular grafts of chick epithelium combined with mouse molar mesenchyme produced a variety of dental structures including perfectly formed crowns with differentiated ameloblasts depositing enamel matrix. The results suggest that the loss of teeth in Aves did not result from a loss of genetic coding for enamel synthesis in the oral epithelium but from an alteration in the tissue interactions requisite for odontogenesis.