Fig. 6.

Increased apoptosis and disrupted mitosis after Dermestes PRG knockdown. (A-F) Dcp-1 (top) and SYTOX Green nuclear staining (bottom) in pRNAi offspring. (A) gfp^RNAi control. Apoptosis is detected in the head and posterior at low levels after germband elongation. Primordial appendages are visible. (B) Dmac-eve^pRNAi. Increased apoptosis is seen in the trunk. Antennae primordia, but no appendages, are visible. (C) Dmac-odd^pRNAi. Increased apoptosis in the trunk of the early embryo. Antennal, mandible, maxillary and some thoracic primordia are present. (D) Dmac-run^pRNAi. Extensive apoptosis in the center of the embryo; only antennal and mandible appendages are present. (E) Dmac-h^pRNAi. High apoptotic activity at the posterior end. (F) Dmac-slp^pRNAi. Striped apoptosis concentrated in alternate compartments is apparent in an extended germband stage embryo. (G-O) PH3 staining to monitor mitosis. (G-J) Control gfp^pRNAi. (G) Mitotic cells are clustered in head lobes at early germband elongation. (H) Later, there is increased mitosis signal in the head and along the anterior and central trunk. In the posterior, mitotic cells are arranged in a stripe (arrow). (I) Concentrated mitotic activity persists in the posterior at late germband elongation (arrow). (J) High mitotic activity all along the embryo at later stage. (K-M) Dmac-slp^pRNAi. PH3 staining very similar to control. Concentrated mitosis is seen in the posterior (arrows in K,L). (N,O) Dmac-eve^pRNAi. (N) Embryo during germband elongation has fewer mitotic cells and without a clear striped-like arrangement in the posterior. (O) Later stage embryo with extensive mitotic activity throughout. Among the 200 0-1 day AEL embryos that were examined for every staining, over 25% developed to appropriate developmental stages for the examination of apoptosis or mitosis pattern. Scale bars: 500 µm.