Fig. 2. Phenotypes of elt-5(RNAi) embryos and larvae. (A,C,E,G) Wild-type; (B,D,F,H) elt-5(RNAi) animals. (A) Nomarski image of wild-type L1 larva. Arrow points to the buccal capsule, which is attached to the anterior end of the worm. (B) elt-5(RNAi) L1 larva showing lumps (arrowhead) and a detached buccal capsule (arrow) at the anterior end of the pharynx, which has contracted toward the posterior. (C-F) Embryos stained with mAb MH27 to visualize adherens junctions of epidermal cells. The asterisks mark the V1 seam cell. (C) Lateral view of a wild-type embryo at the 2.5-fold stage. The row of 10 lateral seam cells, all completely surrounded by adherens junctions, is prominently visible. (D) Lateral view of an elt-5(RNAi) embryo at the 2.5-fold stage. One of the seam cells, V1 (asterisk), does not show adherens junctions, indicating that it has fused with the neighboring hyp7 syncytium on the dorsal and ventral sides. (E) Lateral view of a wild-type embryo slightly past the comma stage. All ten seam cells are visible, although part of the most posterior seam cell, T, is out of focus. (F) Lateral view of an elt-5(RNAi) embryo slightly past the comma stage. One of the seam cells, V1 (asterisk), is ventrally misplaced, and its neighbors, H2 and V2, inappropriately contact each other. (G,H) L1-stage larvae expressing the seam cell marker SCM (nuclear signal) and JAM-1::GFP, a maker for adherens junctions. (G) Wild-type larva showing SCM expression in seam cells only. (H) elt-5(RNAi) larva showing SCM expression in nuclei of syncytial cells (arrowheads) near a fused seam cell (arrow).