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Figure 3 | EvoDevo

Figure 3

From: The Nodal signaling pathway controls left-right asymmetric development in amphioxus

Figure 3

Left-right asymmetric expression of developmental regulatory genes during larval stages. Images are of B. lanceolatum at the early larval stage (L1) and the open mouth stage (L2) from either left lateral view or dorsal view. ‘L’ marks the left side and ‘R’ marks the right side; anterior is to the left. Black arrowheads indicate the preoral pit, black arrows mark the mouth region, white arrows point to the club-shaped gland, and white arrowheads mark the endostyle. Scale bar, 100 μm. (A-G, A’-G’) At L1, Pitx is expressed broadly in the left anterior pharyngeal region spanning the area of the prospective preoral pit and the mouth. Lhx3 expression is confined to the prospective preoral pit, while Dkk1/2/4 is expressed focally in the regions destined to form both the preoral pit and the mouth. FoxE4 and Krox transcripts are restricted to the prospective club-shaped gland, where the expression pattern of Krox is nested within that of FoxE4. FoxQ1 is expressed anterior to FoxE4 in the prospective endostyle region and also at other regions within the pharynx. Nkx2.1 transcripts are confined solely to the endostyle region. (H-N, H’-N’) The L2 stage exhibits well-developed pharyngeal structures, with expression patterns similar to those at L1. Pitx and Dkk1/2/4 continue to be expressed in the preoral pit and the mouth, while Lhx3 expression is confined solely to the preoral pit. FoxE4 and Krox are expressed in the club-shaped gland, with FoxE4 marking the whole structure, while Krox transcripts are confined to its dorsal part. In addition to its expression elsewhere in the pharynx, FoxQ1 is co-expressed with Nkx2.1 in the endostyle.

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