Figure 4. Depletion of Ecd or Prp8 causes apoptotic phenotypes in developing wings.

(A–D) RNAi knockdown of ecd (B) and prp8 (C) induced with the dpp-Gal4 driver disrupted the regular pattern of the dpp expression domain (visualized by co-expression of GFP) in third-instar wing imaginal discs and caused appearance of apoptotic, Caspase 3 positive cells (B′, C′, white arrows). Expression of human Ecd (hEcd) averted the apoptotic phenotype caused by ecd RNAi (D, D′). (E–H) The intervein region corresponding to the dpp expression domain was reduced (double arrows) and the anterior crossvein (arrowhead) was lost in the wings of dpp>ecd^RNAi (F) and dpp>prp8^RNAi (G) adult flies. The ecd RNAi phenotype was rescued by expression of hEcd (H). Images in (A–D) are maximum-intensity projections of multiple confocal sections; panels A′ through D′ are higher-magnification, single sections from the corresponding images in (A–D). Scale bars are 50 µm (A–D), 20 µm (A′–D′), and 1 mm (E–H).