Figure 3

smg mutations ameliorate the phenotype of sel-12(ty11). A) qRT-PCR analysis of sel-12 mRNA (amplicon sel-12-6) from asynchronous eggs from different genotypes. Results are shown for three independent Egg preparations, except for smg-5; sel-12, where only two biological repeats were performed. By a paired sample one-tailed Student's T-test, all four smg mutations significantly increase sel-12 transcript levels. B) Phenotypic quantification of the fraction of animals laying eggs (see Additional file 2, expt. 1 for the data) and C) the fraction of animals with a pronounced (sel-12-like) protruding vulva (Pvl); 55/137, 0/20, 21/115 and 15/99 for LA242 sel-12(ty11), LA259 spr-2(ar199); sel-12(ty11), LA613 smg-1(r861); sel-12(ty11) and smg-2(e2008); sel-12(ty11) animals respectively ± 95% confidence limits. Values statistically significantly higher than sel-12(ty11) are indicated with a * and those values significantly lower than sel-12(ty11) are indicated with **. Many N2 animals were observed but none showed a strong Pvl phenotype and all laid eggs. D) Survival curve of adult worms. At least 20 worms of each genotype were singled as L3s and checked daily for death. E) Total brood size quantification of a panel of mutants ± the 95% confidence limits of the mean. Values statistically significantly higher than sel-12(ty11) are indicated with a *. Results are also tabulated in Additional file 2 experiment 1.