• most null mice with craniofacial malformations die shortly after birth

• mice with less severe craniofacial defects survive longer

• null mice sometimes exhibit cleft nose and palate

• 17% of null mice display neural tube defects caused by the failure of the neural folds to fuse in the dorsal midline

• cells from the edges of the cranial neural folds showed a significant decrease in adhesion to Epha7 coated dishes compared to wildtype cells

• failure to close the cranial neural tube

• most null mice with craniofacial malformations lack a brain

• although arborization of nasal axons is normal, more anterior arborization is also seen

• some null mice display anencephaly

• null mice sometimes exhibit cleft nose and palate

• 17% of null mice display neural tube defects caused by the failure of the neural folds to fuse in the dorsal midline

• cells from the edges of the cranial neural folds showed a significant decrease in adhesion to Epha7 coated dishes compared to wildtype cells

• failure to close the cranial neural tube

• ectopic arborization of both retinal temporal axons and nasal axons are more sever than in singly homozygous mice

• usually multiple ectopic arborizations are seen

• normal arborization sometimes lost

• single ectopic arborizations of temporal axons from the retina but normal nasal arborizations

• diminished survival to weaning but sufficient survivors for study

• females fail to nurse young (J:101720)

• SR1 glomeruli shifted posteriorly by about 20% of the length of the bulb and slightly ventrally on the medial aspect

• P2 glomeruli shifted somewhat posteriorly and shifted dorsally on the medial aspect

• localization of innervations from the optic nerve to the dorsal lateral geniculate body are defective