Fig. 3

Pectoral fins and lateral line neuromasts in zebrafishhoxcluster mutants. (A-H) Pectoral fins of live hox cluster mutants at 3 dpf. Dorsal view. Arrowheads in D indicate pectoral fin malformation in hoxba cluster mutants. (A′-H′) Dissected pectoral fins at 5 dpf. Alcian Blue staining was performed to show cartilage cells (endoskeletal disc; ed). Hemizygous mutants for each hox cluster appeared indistinguishable from the wild-type. The margin of the fin-fold is emphasized by a dashed line. (I-P) Neuromasts in lateral lines were visualized in hox cluster mutants at 3 dpf. Posterior lateral line neuromasts are indicated from anterior-to-posterior as L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, and terminal (term) neuromasts. Hemizygous mutants for each hox cluster appeared indistinguishable from the wild-type. (Q) Comparison of the lengths of the endoskeletal disc along the anterior-posterior axis at the center of the fin. (R) Comparison of fin-fold lengths along the proximodistal axis in hox cluster mutants. (S) Comparison of the lengths of the endoskeletal disc along the proximodistal axis at the center of the fin. Box plot percentiles are: line, median; box, 25th and 75th percentiles; whiskers, 0th-25th and 75th-100th percentiles. The error bar represents the standard error. ***P<0.001 (two-tailed Student's t-test). (T) Positions of posterior lateral line neuromasts, which are located relative to the somite number, are compared in hox cluster mutants. Neuromasts located on both sides of the larvae were examined. Scale bars: 50 µm (A-H,I-P); 100 µm (A′-H′).