A Comparative Study on the Interdigital Membrane Apoptotic Cells in Chick and Duck Embryos

In order to study the morphogenetic role of cell death in the development, a series of comparative studies on the structure of the interdigital membrane of chick (with free digit) and duck (webbed digits) embryos was done. Chick embryos ranging from 6.5 to 10 days of incubation (stag 30-36 H-H) and duck embryos ranging from 8.5 to 12 days of incubation at 12 hour intervals were included in the study. The techniques used in this project were: Vital Staining, Light Microscopy (LM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The results of this study showed that interdigital cell death existed both chick and duck embryos, but the intensity of the degenerative change in duck was lower than that of the chick. This relative decrease in the cell death accounts for the survival of the interdigital webs in ducks. The conclusion of this investigation that the interdegital cell death has certain role in separating the digits as well as sculpturing of limb.