Fig. 8

Effects of SHH and FGF inhibitors on taste bud numbers and distribution. Taste buds on the body surface, including the craniofacial region (in green) are visualized by anti-calretinin antibody. Blue staining shows nucleus labeled by DAPI. a–f, lateral (a–c) and dorsal (d–f) views of the head. g–i, lateral views of the trunk. j–l, lateral views of the tail. a, d, g, and j show control embryos at 5 dpf. b, e, h, and k show cyclopamine-treated embryos. c, f, i, and l show SU5402-treated embryos. m–z, quantification of the number of taste buds on barbels (m–o), craniofacial regions (p, r) and adipose fin (s) in cyclopamine-treated embryos. Inhibition of SHH signal significantly reduced numbers of body surface taste buds, including the craniofacial region, except for the mandibular region (m–o, q–s). In contrast, the numbers of taste buds were significantly increased in the mandibular region (p). t–z, quantification of the number of taste buds on barbels (t–v), craniofacial and trunk regions, including the mandibular apparatus (w), head (x), upper and lower lips (y), and adipose fin (z) in SU5402-treated embryos. Inhibition of FGF signal significantly reduced the number of taste buds on the whole of the body surface, including the craniofacial region. Error bars are standard deviation (SD). Data denoted by the same letter do not differ significantly (*P > 0.05; **P > 0.01) based on Tukey’s HSD test or the Steel–Dwass test after analysis of homogeneity of variance by Bartlett’s test. adp, adipose fin; he, head region; li, lip; mdb, mandibular barbel; mxb, maxillary barbel; pf, pectoral fin; tail region. Anterior is left in all images. Scale bars are 500 μm