Fluorescein-phalloidin staining of hair cells in sensory patches. All panels are dorsal views of ears at 120 hours; anterior is to the left, medial is up, and lateral is down. Compare with diagram in Fig. 1A. Gene names are given for each panel. (A,B) Photographs of wild-type (wt) ears taken in different planes of focus to show all five sensory patches: the two maculae (m) and three cristae (c). In B, hair cells of a neuromast (arrowhead) on the surface of the ear are stained. Muscle (mu) also fluoresces brightly. (C-F) Otolith mutants in which sensory patches and hair cell patterning appear normal. (G,H) dog: cristae are absent, and hair cells in the maculae are reduced in number. (I) vgo: only a single sensory patch is present. (J-L) Mutants in which ear size is abnormal but sensory patches appear unaffected. See text for details. Scale bars, 50 μm. (M,N) Maculae of ty85e compared with wild type; M,M′, medial macula; N,N′, anterior macula. Hair cell number is decreased and hair cell patterning is disrupted in the mutant, especially in the anterior macula. Scale bars, 25 μm.
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