Fig. 3.

Otic vesicle size and morphology is aberrant in sox10 mutants. (A–D,F–O) DIC images of the ears of live sibling (WT) and cls/sox10 mutant embryos. (A,B) At 27 hpf, the images show slight differences in vesicle morphology. (C,D) By 48 hpf, the anterior and posterior semicircular canal projections (arrows) are not visible in the mutant. (E) Quantitation of the anteroposterior (AP) length of the otic vesicle (mean±s.e.) at 48 hpf for WT and cls/sox10 mutants. n=10 for each genotype; p=0.0003 (t-test). (F–I) At 72 hpf, the epithelial projections are now fused to form pillars (arrows) in the WT embryo, but are disorganised in the mutant. (H,I) 72 hpf images focused on the otoliths (arrowheads). (J) A WT ear at 6 days postfertilisation (dpf). (K–M) Three different examples of sox10 mutant ears at 5 dpf showing the variability in size. All these ears contained two small otoliths, but they are out of the focal plane in (L) and (M). (N,O) Dorsal views of two cls/sox10 mutants at 8 dpf showing hugely distended and misshapen ears [bilateral in (N) and unilateral in (O), where the ear on the left remains small and uninflated]. A thin semicircular canal pillar (arrow) spans the enlarged lumen. All panels are lateral views, with anterior to the left, except for (N) and (O) which represent dorsal views, with anterior to the top. Mutants in (E) are the cls^m618 allele; mutants in all other panels are the cls^t3 allele. Bars, 50 μm.