Fig. 7
Knocking down ama or nrg disrupted the migration of glia from the optic stalk into the eye disc. UAS-RNAi transgenes were expressed in both R cells and WG under control of ey3.5-GAL4 and Mz97-GAL4. 3rd-instar larval eye-brain complexes were double-stained with anti-HRP (green) and anti-Repo (magenta). Anti-HRP and anti-Repo label neuronal processes and all glial cells, respectively. A-A”, in wild-type animals (100%, n = 13), glial cells in the optic stalk migrate into the sub-retinal region of the eye disc, where they differentiate into WG after contacting nascent R-cell axons. B-B″, an eye-brain complex in which ama was knocked down. The size of the ama knockdown eye disc was much smaller than that in wild type. Glial cells accumulated in the optic stalk (arrow) and failed entirely to enter the eye disc (100%, n = 9 animals). C-C″, an eye-brain complex in which nrg was knocked down in both eye disc and WG. Although the size of the eye disc was similar to that in wild type, the number of glial cells in the sub-retinal region was significantly decreased in nrg knockdown animals (9 out 12 animals examined). Scale bar: 20 μm