Autonomous Cell Labeling Using a laacZ Reporter Transgene to Produce Genetic Mosaics During Development

Analyses performed in invertebrates have revealed the central role of cell behavior for the progressive positioning and determination of cells within developing organisms (Garcia-Bellido et al. 1973; Sulston et al. 1983; Shankland 1991; Sternberg 1991). However, the study of cell behavior in organisms for which the individual sequence of embryonic cell divisions is not stereotyped remains a very complex issue and this is particularly true for vertebrates (Lawson et al. 1991; Quinlan et al. 1995). Analyses are hampered by the difficulty of labeling cells in the embryo and the lack of stable cell autonomous markers (Beddington and Lawson 1990), but also by the characteristics inherent in the prospective methods generally used.