Muscle development in the grasshopper embryo: III. Sequential origin of the flexor tibiae muscle pioneers

Abstract

The flexor (FlTi) and extensor (ETi) tibiae are antagonist muscles located in the femur of the metathoracic leg of the grasshopper. Both are complex, consisting of an array of bundles of muscle fibers connecting the ectoderm of the wall of the femur with their respective apodemes. In the previous paper (E. E. Ball and C. S. Goodman, 1985, Dev. Biol. 111, 399–416) we described the embryonic development of the ETi muscle, focusing in particular on its syncytial origin from a giant supramuscle pioneer which later divides into an array of individual muscle pioneers. Here we describe the embryonic development of the FlTi muscle. In contrast to the development of the ETi muscle, the array of individual muscle pioneers for the FlTi does not have a syncytial origin but rather arises by sequential recruitment from the mass of smaller, undifferentiated mesoderm cells. The FlTi MPs first appear as two cells symmetrically placed on the corners of the FlTi apodeme at around 37%. A third MP is then added between these two; this third MP later dies. Subsequent growth occurs by symmetrical addition of MPs distally along the sides of the developing apodeme and by enlargement of the individual MPs. Initially each MP contains only a single nucleus; by about 50% there are at least two to three nuclei per MP and each is surrounded by a cluster of smaller, undifferentiated mesoderm cells. Each MP develops into a bundle of muscle fibers by a cycle of fusion and division. The individual mesoderm cells surrounding each MP fuse with it starting at about 60%. At the same time, the large MP begins to divide into smaller muscle fibers.