Fig. 3.

Pigment cell progenitors in medaka pax3b and pax7a mutant embryos. (A-I) Lateral views at top and dorsal views at bottom at stage 29. The gch2-expressing progenitors of xanthophore and leucophore were severely decreased in the pax3b mutant (A,B), with only a few remaining anteriorly, and completely absent in the pax7a mutant (C), which is consistent with the severity of the phenotypes in these mutants at later (hatching) stages. The dct-expressing progenitors of melanophore were slightly decreased in number in pax3b mutant (D,E), but unaltered or even increased in number and expression level in pax7a mutant compared with WT (F). The pnp4a-expressing progenitors of iridophore were not altered in the eyes in both mutants (G-I, bottom left), but the putative progenitors of peritoneum iridophores were decreased in the pax3b mutant (G,H), but not in the pax7a mutant (I, bottom right). Images are representative of more than ten embryos. Scale bar: 250 µm.