Fig. 8. Excess ntl mutant floor plate cells originate from a fate map position corresponding to the wild-type notochord domain. Caged fluorescein fate mapping (see Materials and Methods and text) was used to determine fates of dorsal marginal cells of ntl^– embryos. (A) The fluorophore was uncaged in the early gastrula in a small population of approximately 20 dorsal marginal cells of wild-type embryos and embryos depleted of ntl function (using ntl-MO). (B-E) Uncaged fluorescein label was detected at 24 hpf by fluorescence (B,C) and/or using anti-fluorescein antibody (D,E). Representative examples of deep layer cell (DEL) fates are shown. (B,D) In control wild-type embryos, the fluorophore was always detected in large populations of notochord cells, occasionally in hatching gland, and only rarely in floor plate. (C,E) In ntl-depleted embryos, the fluorophore was detected in large numbers of floor plate cells. See text for details. Scale bars: 50 µm, in A for A-C and in D for D,E.

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