Figure 3.

Food intake and preference of C. elegans fed on Se-enriched bacteria, as compared to the standard E. coli diet. (A) Bristol N2 worms, starting at L1 stage, received either the standard or the Se-enriched E. coli OP50 diet for 4 days. Thereafter, the pumping rate of 50 nematodes from each group was determined by recording videos of their pharyngeal movements under a microscope. Data are depicted as medians with interquartile ranges; there was no significant difference between the two groups, as shown by statistical analysis using an unpaired t-test with Welch’s correction. (B) Bristol N2 worms at the L1 stage received the standard E. coli OP50 diet for 4 days. Thereafter, they were placed in the epicenter of an agar plate, with lawns of E. coli OP50 and Se-enriched E. coli OP50 bacteria at opposite sections. For calculation of the relative bacteria choice by the nematodes, the total number of the transferred worms, as well as the number of worms which had opted for one of the food sources, was counted at the beginning of the experiment and after 3, 6 and 9 h, respectively. Data are depicted as means ± S.E.M. from four independent experiments; statistical analysis was performed using an unpaired t-test with Welch’s correction (*** p < 0.001 vs. worms fed on the standard E. coli diet).