Effects of Transplanted Blastemas on Amputated Nerveless Limbs of Urodele Larvae

These results provide new experimental evidence toward a further understanding of the rôle which the blastema plays in regeneration. It has been previously established (Schotté and Butler,, Butler and Schotté) that in normal regeneration cessation of dedifferentiation of formed structures of the limb coincides with the appearance of a blastema. It has been demonstrated, furthermore, that when the formation of a blastema is prevented by denervation, dedifferentiation is unchecked and proceeds to extreme ends. In the experiments here reported it is shown that this extreme dedifferentiation in an amputated nerveless limb is prevented by the transplantation of a young blastema.