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First published online 14 November 2007
doi: 10.1242/dev.004697

Development 134, 4427-4436 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
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Lymph heart in chick - somitic origin, development and embryonic oedema

Petr Valasek1,*, Raymond Macharia2, Winfried L. Neuhuber3, Joerg Wilting4, David L. Becker5 and Ketan Patel1

1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AJ, UK.
2 Royal Veterinary College, London NW1 0TU, UK.
3 Institute of Anatomy I, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Krankenhausstrasse 9, 91054, Germany.
4 Pediatrics I, Children's Hospital, Robert-Koch-Strasse 40, 37075 Goettingen, Germany.
5 Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: valasekpetr{at}hotmail.com)

Accepted 20 September 2007

The lymph heart is a sac-like structure on either side of avian tail. In some adult birds, it empties the lymph from the copulatory organ; however, during embryonic development, it is thought to circulate extra-embryonic lymph. Very little is known about the origin, innervation and the cellular changes it undergoes during development. Using immunohistochemistry and gene expression profiling we show that the musculature of the lymph heart is initially composed solely of striated skeletal muscle but later develops an additional layer composed of smooth myofibroblasts. Chick-quail fate-mapping demonstrates that the lymph heart originates from the hypaxial compartments of somites 34-41. The embryonic lymph heart is transiently innervated by somatic motoneurons with no autonomic input. In comparison to body muscles, the lymph heart has different sensitivity to neuromuscular junction blockers (sensitive only to decamethonium). Furthermore, its abundant bungarotoxin-positive acetylcholinesterase receptors are unique as they completely lack specific acetylcholinesterase activity. Several lines of evidence suggest that the lymph heart may possess an intrinsic pacing mechanism. Finally, we assessed the function of the lymph heart during embryogenesis and demonstrate that it is responsible for preventing embryonic oedema in birds, a role previously thought to be played by body skeletal muscle contractions.

Key words: Lymph, Heart, Avian, Embryo, Oedema, Disease, Skeletal muscle, ACh receptor, Immobility, crooked neck, Tailless, Rumpless, Araucana






© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007