Rat Embryo Tissue Section
The digital image in this section is a three-dimensional reconstruction of rat embryo tissue at 19 days stained with Alexa Fluor 488 (wheat germ agglutinin; highlighting lectins), Alexa Fluor 568 (phalloidin; labeling actin filaments), and DAPI (nuclei). As the rodent embryo undergoes neurulation (part of organogenesis in vertebrate embryos), the ectodermal neural plate is created inside the cup and the gut endoderm appears on the outside. This imposes a rotation of the embryo to switch from the lordotic, or curved shape, to the fetal shape. Simultaneously, the ectoderm is brought to the outside and the endoderm to the inside of the body.