Fig. 9

Human Tbx20 T-box domain also rescues male tail defects in mab-9 animals. (A) him-8(e1489) male tail (effectively WT). The cuticular fan containing embedded sensory rays is evident at the posterior and the refractile spicules are clearly visible (arrow). (B) mab-9(e2410); him-8(e1489) male tail. Male tail morphogenesis is grossly abnormal and no spicules are evident. (C) mab-9(e2410); him-8(e1489) male completely rescued with the mab-9 genomic construct pAW118 (carried as an extrachromosomal array). (D) mab-9(e2410); him-8(e1489) male carrying the full length mab-9 cDNA construct pAW141 (ouEx71). Rescue is incomplete, with morphogenetic defects apparent in the fan and very abnormal spicules (arrow). (E) mab-9(e2410); him-8(e1489) male carrying the full length human TBX20 construct pAW175 (ouEx70). Again, rescue is incomplete with aberrant fan morphogenesis and grossly abnormal spicules. (F) mab-9(e2410); him-8(e1489) male carrying the mab-9 minigene construct pAW230 (ouEx63). Good rescue is observed, with the fan looking normal and well formed spicules evident (arrow), much like in panels A and C. (G) mab-9(e2410); him-8(e1489) male carrying the mab-9/HsTBX20 minigene constuct pAW271 (ouEx62), in which the entire T-box domain of mab-9 is replaced with the human Tbx20 T-box domain. Rescue is good, with well formed fan and spicules (arrow). (H) mab-9(e2410); him-8(e1489) male carrying the mab-9/Xbra chimeric minigene construct pAW294 (ouEx73). No rescue is observed. Gross morphological defects are observed and there is no evidence of spicule formation, much like in panel B. Typical phenotypes are shown. Posterior is to the right in all panels. Scale bar, 25 μm.