Fig. 1.

Substantial frataxin suppression is required to extend C. elegans lifespan. A) frh-1 gene and dsRNA interference constructs. One construct against the entire frataxin genomic CDS (frh-1IV), and three additional constructs targeting the three single exons, respectively named frh-1I, frh-1 II and frh-1III, were generated in this work. B) Frataxin protein (FRH-1) expression was quantified in 1-day-old adult wild-type (WT) animals fed bacteria expressing either empty-vector (con) or one of the four different frh-1 dsRNA. In the left panel FRH-1 expression was revealed through western blot with a specific antibody anti Ce-FRH-1 and normalized to tubulin (TUB). In the first lane 10 ng of FRH-1 recombinant protein (rec) were loaded. FRH-1 appears at the expected molecular weight ~ 15 kDa. In the right panel, bars and errors indicate mean FRH-1 expression ± standard error of the mean (SEM) after densitometric analysis from two independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.001 t-test. C) Survival analysis of wild-type animals fed bacteria expressing either empty-vector (con) or the different frh-1 dsRNA.