Fig. 8

Germ plasm recruitment and PCG determination appears unaffected in hecate mutants.

(A-F) Whole mount in situ hybridization of 4-cell stage (60 mpf) embryos to label the germ line-specific genes dazl1 (A,B,D,E), and vasa (C,F) in wild-type (A-C) and hec mutant (D–F) embryos. Early localization of dazl mRNA to the vegetal pole (A,D, side views), and dazl mRNA and vasa mRNA to the germ plasm as it becomes recruited to the furrows of the first and second cleavage cycles (B,C,E,F, animal views). Localization of dazl domains of recruitment at the furrow is not detected in the side views as the levels of mRNA in these domains are relatively low and the focal plane is not optimal for their visualization. G,H) PGC determination, as determined by vasa expression in 24-hour embryos (G), appears unaffected in hec mutants (H), although the PGCs in mutant embryos do not become clustered as in wild-type due to the aberrant cell specification in these mutants. Quantification of the number of vasa-expressing cells is presented in Figure S9. Magnification bar in (H) corresponds to 100 µm for all panels.