Development of the rat salivary glands. III. Mesenchymal specificity in the morphogenesis of the embryonic submaxillary and sublingual glands of the rat

Abstract

Abstract The parotid, sublingual and submaxillary buds of the embryonic rat can undergo typical morphogenesis in response to capsular mesenchyme from either the parotid or submaxillary‐sublingual rudiment. The submaxillary epithelium can be induced by embryonic bronchial mesenchyme to undergo limited morphogenesis, while the sublingual epithelium exhibits more extensive morphogenesis in response to the same stimulus. Pancreatic mesenchyme and jaw mesenchyme are essentially inactive in inducing the submaxillary epithelium, but can consistently stimulate morphogenesis of the sublingual rudiment at a relatively low level of complexity. Thus, the sublingual rudiment shows a less‐stringent mesenchymal requirement than does the submaxillary, and with both rudiments, lung mesenchyme is more effective than pancreas or jaw mesenchyme in supporting morphogenesis.