Figure 1:
lin-41(0);
daf-7 mutants display a
lin-29-dependent dauer defective phenotype: (A) The
daf-7(
e1372) allele was used to promote dauer entry, and was present in all strains. Larvae homozygous for the
lin-41 null allele
n2914 (
lin-41(0)) rarely entered dauer at the dauer-inducing temperature of 24C, in comparison to control larvae that were wild-type for
lin-41 or heterozygous for
lin-41(0).
lin-41(0) was balanced with the closely-linked transgene nIs408[LIN-29::mCherry,
ttx-3::gfp] (Harris and Horvitz 2011).
lin-41(0) homozygous larvae were identified by lack of fluorescence, whereas
lin-41(0)/+ or + refers to larvae that were positive for fluorescence. Simultaneous loss of
lin-29 (
lin-29(0)) suppressed the dauer-defective phenotype of
lin-41(0), indicating that misregulation of
lin-29 inhibits dauer entry in
lin-41(0) larvae. (B) SDS-selection from starved plates yielded
lin-41(0) homozygous dauer larvae, over half of which displayed morphological defects. Morphological defects were absent in
lin-41(0);
lin-29(0) dauers from starved plates, indicating that misregulation of
lin-29 can result in abnormalities in dauer morphology. (C)
daf-7 dauer larvae (top) from starved plates displayed distinct dauer alae with crisp, parallel lines as well as the long, thin body shape characteristic of dauer larvae. By contrast, some
lin-41(0) dauer larvae displayed morphological defects including crooked and convergent alae and a lumpy body shape (bottom). Images were taken using a 63X objective. (D) Control
lin-41(0)/nIs408 or nIs408 dauer larvae were long and thin, whereas some
lin-41(0) homozygous dauer larvae appeared Dpy. Images were taken using a 10X objective. Fisher exact test: ns, not significant; ****, P<0.0001.