Fig. 1

Characterization of kit^w34 mutant larvae. A: AB zebrafish at 4 days postfertilization (dpf), illustrating wild-type melanophore morphology and patterning. B: kit^w34 zebrafish at 4 dpf, have small, rounded melanophores. Lateral and ventral stripe melanophores are largely missing by this stage. C-E: kit^w34/kit^b5 complementation analysis. C: In kit^b5, 6 dpf zebrafish, the majority of melanophores have died. D,E: While progeny from a homozygous kit^b5 and kit^w34 cross show defects in melanophore morphology and survival (D), progeny from a kit^w34 and AB cross are rescued and show wild-type melanophore patterning (E). F,G: In situ analysis for kit mRNA during early melanogenesis. F: Wild-type zebrafish express kit in the head, anterior trunk and intermediate cell mass (red asterisk) at 23 somites. G: kit^w34 embryos lack kit expression. H,I: kit^w34 adults have a reduction in melanophores. H: Wild-type pigment pattern showing three distinct dark stripes on the flank near the dorsal and caudal fins. I: kit^w34 adult showing reduced overall pigmentation, especially in dorsal areas (arrow) and throughout the dark stripes. The darks stripes are disorganized and the ventral stripe is lost with kit loss-of-function (arrowhead).