Fig. 1

Germline development during the embryonic stage is highly conserved. A Time course of Ae. aegypti developmental stages under standard laboratory condition. Confocal images of embryos (B–F) and zoomed-in for the outlined area (B’–F’) at 2 h AEL (B, B’), 8 h AEL (C, C’), 12 h AEL (D, D’), 24 h AEL (E, E’), and 60 h AEL (F, F’) with Vasa (green) and DNA (white) staining. B, B’ Vasa crescent detected at the posterior end of the embryo. C, C’ PGCs formed at the posterior end of the embryo. D, D’ PGCs detected on migrating germ band. E, E’ PGCs detected in two gonads. F, F’ PGCs in two gonads at 60 h AEL. G Quantification of PGC number in the embryo (before gonad formation, 0–16 h AEL) or in each gonad (after gonad formation, 24–60 h AEL). Data are represented as mean ± SEM. The number of samples (n) in each group is shown above the X-axis. The dash lines mark the outlines of embryos. The asterisk in F marks the mismigrated PGC. Scale bars in B and B’ are 50 µm