Figure 4. Eliminating MTs has minor effects on epidermal cell shape.

(a,b) Representative images of dorsal–lateral epidermis, visualized as described in Fig. 1, of control embryos expressing GFP (left) or Spastin-GFP (right) with paired::Gal4 (prd>, a) and pannier::Gal4 (pnr>, b). Region expressing either GFP or Spastin-GFP is outlined with a yellow dotted line. Scale bars, 10 μm (c,d) Quantification of cell eccentricity and cell's long/short axes ratios in embryos expressing GFP (c, left and d, blue) and Spastin-GFP (c, right and d, green) shows that substantial cell elongation occurs in the absence of MTs. Cells from five embryos per genotype from 3 (c) and 2 (d) independent experiments were analysed. Statistical analysis between expressing (+) and non-expressing (−) cells within the same embryo in c was performed with Wilcoxon test and between cells from different embryos in c and d with Mann–Whitney test. *P<0.05 **P<0.01, NS, not significantly different.