The problem of sampling homologous groups of nephrons during development of the chick mesonephros.

With the aim of defining homologous groups of nephrons in the chick mesonephros at different stages of development, we opened the abdominal wall of 295 White Leghorn embryos at stage HH 26 and marked off 6 segments of equal length at different levels of the organ by Seichert's plastic linear marking method (Seichert 1965), using marks previously introduced into the vertebral column at the same levels as a guide. The embryos were removed after 2-6 days, weighed and classified according to weight. The primordia of the marked vertebrae were identified. The length of the artificially defined segments or their relationships to both poles of the mesonephros were evaluated in projections. The portion of the mesonephros above Th 3 level shorten during the period of observation, while the more caudal segments grow in a craniocaudal gradient. Homologous groups of nephrons can be identified only by the marking technique, except for those at Th 7 level, whose distance from the caudal pole does not alter up to the 11th embryonic day.