Fig. 2

In situ hybridization of PLCβ2 to the nostrils, lower lip, oral cavity, and top head skin shows the presence of taste buds in these organs. Fish head illustrations at the lower left corners of all panels show the approximate position of the coronal sections depicted in the respective panels. (A) PLCβ2 staining of the taste buds on a coronal section of the head including the nostrils, oral cavity, and the top head skin shows that taste buds are present in the tissues of these organs in varying abundances. (B) Higher magnification of the nostril on the left-hand side on panel (A) shows numerous densely packed PLCβ2-expressing cells. (C) A coronal section of the lower lip exhibits several individual, well segregated taste buds. (D) Representative image of the nostril shows the dense expression of PLCβ2 on another animal, demonstrating the reproducibility of this observation. Scale bars are 100 µm (A) and 50 µm (B-D).