Fig. 4. XNF-ATc3 is necessary for neural ectoderm morphogenesis. (A) CA XNF-ATc3 (50 pg) or 250 pg DN XNF-ATc3 were co-injected with 50 pg GFP. Dorsal animal injections target the posterior neural ectoderm while dorsal vegetal injections target the axial mesoderm. The right panel shows the GFP fluorescence in stage 12 Xenopus embryos, demonstrating correct targeting of tissues. (B) Only embryos where the RNA was targeted into the neural ectoderm (NE) show neural CE defects at neurula stages (16-18), while embryos from axial mesoderm (AM) injections appear normal, with the exception that high concentration (500 pg) of CA XNF-ATc3 cause gastrulation delays (data not shown). Neural CE defects are marked with black arrowheads.