Fig. 1

Neuromast regeneration in the lateral line of tail-amputated zebrafish larvae. (a) As illustrated, we cut the tails of Et(HG7L) larvae at 3 days post-fertilization (dpf) to remove the L6–L8 neuromasts. We observed the regeneration of a new neuromast (indicated by arrowheads) by epifluorescence microscopy and categorized this process into four distinct stages. (b) Phase I: The increase in fluorescent cells was not observable in the lateral line between the L5 neuromast and the wound site (dotted line). (c) Phase II-1: Fluorescent cells increased and piled up into two layers. (d) Phase II-2: A cluster of fluorescent cells formed with more than two layers. (e) Phase III: The formation of a new neuromast. (f) We counted the larvae at each phase on the designated day post-amputation (dpa). The percentages of larvae in each phase among the 59 surviving larvae (pooled from four independent experiments) are shown. Due to low resolution, the boundary between layers is not clearly visible under epifluorescence microscopy. Confocal images for each corresponding phase are presented in Panels B′–E'.