Embryonic axis orientation in the mouse and its correlation with blastocyst relationships to the uterus: II. Relationships from 4¼ to 9½ days

Each of the three primary axes of the primitive streak (6 3/4 days p.c.) to C-shaped (9 1/2 days) stage mouse embryo has a specific relationship to the uterine horn axes. By a retrograde analysis of younger sectioned embryos it has been possible to construct an axis fate map for the implanting 4 1/4-day blastocyst and to show how its implantation in one or the other of two specific orientations to the ends and walls of the horn leads to these embryo-horn relationships. The implanting blastocyst axis fate map can be related to an axis fate map of the attached blastocyst (Smith, 1980) since these too are in one or the other of two orientations to the ends and walls of the horn. It is suggested that the asymmetries of the attached and implanting blastocysts that allowed the distinctive attachment and implantation orientations to be recognized, are the initial expressions of a three-dimensional system of positional information that is present in the attached blastocyst.