Oxidative stress can result from an increase in reactive oxygen species or an inability to detoxify reactive intermediates or repair damage caused by these intermediates. Although C. elegans is quite resilient to high levels of oxygen, disruptions in intracellular respiration, such as mutations in
mev-1 and
gas-1, result in increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS). These increases in ROS result in hypersensitivity to high concentrations of oxygen.