Figure 1

Morphological abnormalities associated with VitE deficiency at 12-, 24- and 48 h post-fertilization. Representative bright field images of E+ and E− embryos showed normal development in E+ embryos and abnormalities in the E− embryos. At 12 hpf, E+ embryos (A) had defined somites and eyes, while E− embryos (B) showed abnormal somite formation and a reduced dorsal region where the eye is usually located. At 24 hpf, E+ embryos (C) had clearly defined eyes, heads and somites, while the E− embryos (D) had pericardial edema, less well-defined somites and notochord. At 48 hpf, E+ embryos (E) had extended fins and pigmentation throughout the body, while the E− embryos (F) experienced severe pericardial edema, stunted fin formation; some E− embryos experience errors in tail formation. (G) Early mortality, defined as nonviable beyond that time point, was increased in E− embryos at 12 hpf. By 48 hpf only about 35% of the original E− clutch survived with about 75% of E+ embryos surviving (P < 0.031) At 24 hpf (H), E− embryos that were alive experienced greater incidences of developmental delay, as well as morphological malformations that include brain, eye, and somites deformities. *Indicate delay or defects in E− embryos relative to E+ . Scale bar represents 500 m. Representative embryos are shown. Figure panels (A–F) were generated with the BZ- × 700 microscope, processed with BZ-X Analyzer Software with image adjustments made with Adobe Photoshop v21.2.1.