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Fig. 2. Xenopus Zic3 morphants exhibit defective gastrulation and convergent extension morphogenesis. (A) Normal control (CTRL) MO embryos at gastrula stage. (B) Sibling Zic3 morphants at stage 12.25 with delayed and abnormal blastopore closure. (C) The percentage of control morpholino and Zic3 morphant embryos that showed blastopore closure defects. (D–E, G–H) Whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH) of brachyury at stage 13. (D) The blastopore area is outlined by the dashed line in control morpholino (D) and Zic3 morphant (E) embryos. (F) Average blastopore area in control and Zic3 morphant embryos. (G) Notochord length (L) and width (W) are designated by white lines in control morpholino embryos (G) and Zic3 morphants (H), which exhibited a wider, shorter notochord. (I) Average notochord length-to-width ratio in control morpholino and Zic3 morphant embryos. (J) Anterior–posterior (A–P) axis measurement (white line) of control morphant (J) and Zic3 morphant (K) embryos at the tailbud stage. (L) Average A–P axis lengths in control and Zic3 morphants. Error bars represent SEM. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01 by t-test. |
