Figure 3

TD formation defects are exacerbated upon slight perturbation of Vegfc signaling. The progeny of sox18^sa12315 heterozygote matings in the Tg(fli1a:EGFP)^y1 line were injected with a subcritical dose of vegfc-MO or left uninjected; TD formation was analyzed at 5dpf. (A) Confocal trunk images of uninjected wt (+/+) and sox18 homozygous mutant (−/−) larvae. Arrowheads point to TD+ segments, while asterisks indicate the absence of TD; a smaller arrowhead marks a thinner TD+ segment. (B) The graph reports the mean number of TD+ segments, counted along 10 consecutive trunk segments, together with the SEM, for all analyzed larvae of each genotype (wt: sox18^+/+, het: sox18^+/−, hom: sox18^−/−). Each symbol represents the number of TD+ segments of a single larva; data were gathered in several independent experiments. Uninjected larvae on the left are compared to larvae with partially reduced Vegfc on the right. n = number of larvae, * = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01; *** = p < 0.001. TD = thoracic duct; DA = dorsal aorta; PCV = posterior cardinal vein. Lateral view, anterior to the left.