Histogenesis of Skin in Early Prenatal Goat (Capra hircus)

The study was conducted on the skin of 12 goat embryo/foetii aged between 23 to 50 days of gestation. Between 23 to 28 days of gestation the embryos surface epithelium contained a single layer of flat cells. The periderm layer was first noticed in patches in the thoracic limb at 28 days of gestation and appeared in other region of body between 32 to 34 days of gestation. The cells of periderm were flat with spindle shaped dark nuclei while basal layer was made up of cuboidal cells. Distinct continuous periderm was first observed in 40 day old embryo. At this stage, the basal layer contained cuboidal cells while periderm had flattened cells. Discontinuous thin basement membrane was observed at many places. At 42nd day of gestation at some places the epithelium consisted of 3 – 4 layer of cells. The cells of middle layers were polygonal in shape with dark staining eccentrically placed rounded nuclei; these cells were comparatively larger than the cells of basal layer and their nuclei were relatively smaller. Between 46th -50th days of gestation the surface epithelium on the dorsal aspect of foetii was comprised of 2–3 layers only whereas in remaining part considerable variation was noticed in the number of layer. The subepithelial connective tissue was cellular in the early stage in which reticular fibers first appeared at 40 days of gestation and formed network at 44 days of gestation but no collagen or elastic fibers were seen.