xav mutants exhibit cell death throughout the nervous system that is rescued by p53 morpholino knockdown and does not account for the motor axon branching, neuromuscular synapse or motility defects. A. xav mutants exhibit widespread cell death in the peripheral and central nervous system. There was a dramatic increase in TUNEL+cells in xav mutants compared to WT embryos at ∼56–72 hpf, particularly in the retina and spinal cord. B. At 56 hpf, cell death was blocked using a morpholino against p53. However, blocking cell death did not block the reduction of axon branching and synaptogenesis phenotypes that are present in xav mutants. N>6 embryos, 2 carrier pairs. Scale bar = 100 μm.
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