Fig. 1. Patterns of hair cells in the otic vesicle. Lateral view of otic vesicles of live val/val (A,B) and wild-type (C) embryos viewed under DIC optics at 21 h. val/val mutants have small, round otic vesicles, and otoliths vary in number and position. (D,E) Dorsolateral view of deltaA expression in the otic vesicle at 19 h in val/val (D) and wild-type (E) embryos. Arrowheads indicate nascent tether cells. (F-H) Dorsolateral view of otic vesicles showing hair cells stained with anti-Pax2 (red) and anti-acetylated tubulin (green) antibodies. (F) val/val mutant at 24 h. Seven hair cells are distributed along the length of the anteroposterior axis of the otic vesicle. (G) val/val mutant at 30 h. An ectopic patch of hair cells (arrowhead) is evident between the anterior and posterior maculae. (H) Wild-type embryo at 30 h. (I-K) Dorsolateral view of val/val mutants at 27 h stained with anti-Pax2 to visualize hair cell nuclei. The number and distribution of hair cells are variable. Anterior is towards the left in all specimens. Scale bar: 20 µm in A-C; 15 µm in D,E; 30 µm in F-H; 40 µm in I-K.