Fig 5

Apicobasal polarity components and patterned gene expression is perturbed in taz^-/- mutants.

Changes to apicobasal polarity and cytoskeletal organization were assayed in wild-type and taz-/- mutants. (A) Crb2a localization in wild-type animals outlines the apical side of the ventricle. In taz-/- mutants, this localization is disturbed at locations where the ventricle fails to separate. Cell nuclei labelled with TO-PRO-3. (B) Phalloidin staining of F-actin in wild-type animals is seen strongly at the apical side of the ventricle lips, whereas in taz-/- mutants, locations where failure of midline separation occurs, we observe disturbances to F-actin organization. (C) Quantification of embryos observed having continuous, apposed, or gaps in apical localization. In wild-type animals, apical localization of Crb2a and F-actin is seen continuously from the anterior to posterior axis of the hindbrain ventricle, whereas in taz-/- mutants, a large proportion show either a gap or apposition of apical surfaces. (D) In taz-/- mutants, expression of genes that appear in a striated pattern are lost. These genes include rfng, rasgef1ba, and rac3b.