(a) Schematic of the life cycle of the sea anemone N. vectensis. Dark grey shading in blastula, gastrula and early planula stages indicates the endoderm.
(b) Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of the temporal expression of NvecGrl1 and NvecGrl2 during nine developmental time-points. Data from three biological replicate samples (mean ± s.e.m.) are shown.
(c) RNA in situ hybridisation using a riboprobe against NvecGrl1 on whole mount N. vectensis at three developmental stages. Lateral views, with the arboral side on the left, are shown for all specimens in this and subsequent figures, unless otherwise noted.
(d) Two-colour RNA in situ hybridisation using riboprobes against NvecGrl1 (light blue) and NvecFgfa1 (dark blue) on whole mount N. vectensis embryos.
(e) RNA in situ hybridisation using a riboprobe against NvecGrl1 on whole mount N. vectensis at two developmental stages showing an apical view, which reveal the formation of a ring-like distribution of transcripts at the planula stage. The apical organ forms from the unstained cells inside the ring (white arrow). Scale bars in (c-e) = 100 μm.