FIGURE 2.

Disruption of abtm-1 produces embryonic lethality, which is further increased by depletion of daf-16. A, embryonic lethality in the offspring of abtm-1(RNAi) worms in wild type and daf-16(mu86) backgrounds. abtm-1(RNAi) hermaphrodites produce 28% dead embryos, whereas depletion of abtm-1 in daf-16 mutants produce 56%. ***, Student's t test, p <0.0001. B, abtm-1(RNAi) produces arrest of embryos mostly during morphogenesis (96%). C, representative examples of abtm-1(RNAi)-arrested embryos. C, panel i, transmitted light image of an embryo arrested during the proliferation stage. C, panel ii, confocal image of an embryo arrested during morphogenesis, showing signs of cellular differentiation. The yellow and white arrows point to AJM-1::GFP expression, a cell-specific marker of epithelia, in the pharyngeal and epidermal cells, respectively. The red arrow indicates autofluorescent granules, characteristic of the intestinal cells. C, panel iii, confocal image of an embryo in which the epidermis has failed to migrate during ventral enclosure leaving the embryo incompletely enclosed as indicated by the arrow. C, panel iv, an embryo arrested during the last step of morphogenesis, elongation. The epidermis has enclosed most of the embryo, but it is highly disorganized. D, transmitted light images, from four-dimensional microscopic analysis. D, panel i, wild type embryo. D, panel ii, embryo arrested during morphogenesis showing the presence of internal tissues external to the embryo. D, panels iii and iv, embryos showing premature apoptotic events in the 9th generation. Apoptotic cells are indicated by arrows. All scale bars represent 10 μm.