Fig. 3. Vulval phenotypes of egl-18(RNAi) animals rescued for lethality by wEx1070. (A) Nomarski image of a wild-type vulval opening at the `Christmas tree' (L4) stage. (B) Nomarski image of an egl-18(RNAi); wEx1070 animal, in which all of the six P3.p-P8.p cells (arrows) did not divide and appear to have fused. (C) ajm-1::GFP (adherens junction marker) expression in a wildtype animal at the early L3 stage. All six VPCs (arrowheads) are clearly demarcated by ajm-1::GFP. One of the VPCs is partially out of focus in this image. (D) ajm-1::GFP expression in an egl-18(RNAi); wEx1070 animal at a similar stage to the animal shown in C. All but one VPC are in the process of fusion as indicated by fragmented ajm-1::GFP expression (arrows). One VPC remains unfused as shown by a complete ring (arrowhead).