Mutation of hmgcs1 disrupts gata1a expression. (A-D) Whole mount ISH was performed to detect the expression of the gata1a transcription factor at the 18-somite stage (n = 18 hmgcs1^+/+ [sibling], n = 13 hmgcs1^−/− [Vu57]) and 26 hpf (n = 34 sibling, n = 28 Vu57). Total numbers of animals was obtained with a minimum of 2 biological replicates. (E-F) Embryos were treated with vehicle control (DMSO) or 2 μM ATOR (n = 18 DMSO, n = 27 ATOR, P = .0001) from sphere stage to 26 hpf and subjected to ISH to detect gata1a expression. Numbers of embryos affected are indicated below each figure. P value represents Fisher’s exact test demonstrating the numbers affected per treatment group. Total numbers of embryos were obtained across 2 biological replicates. Arrowheads, area of gata1a expression at each time point. Images were taken with a 10× optical lens at 8× (A-B) and 6.3× (C-F) objective zoom. (G-H) Tg(gata1a:dsRed) embryos were treated with vehicle control (DMSO) or 2 μM atorvastatin. Fluorescence was visualized using a confocal microscope at 20× magnification. The number of cells/Z-stack was quantified using ImageJ. (I) Antisense hmgcs1 morpholinos were injected (0.025 mM) at the single-cell stage and total RNA was extracted at the 18-somite stage. qPCR was performed to detect the expression of gata1a. All samples were performed in technical triplicate; error bars represent the standard deviation of technical triplicates. *P < .05. (J) Total RNA was isolated from embryos treated with vehicle control or ATOR and qPCR was performed to detect the expression of gata1a. All samples were performed in technical triplicate and error bars represent the standard deviation of technical triplicates. *P < .05. (K) Quantification of the number of dsRed cells from panels G and H. ^#P = 7.25273e-07.