Figure 1. Pan-neuronal but not TRN-specific re-expression of PTL-1 rescues the short-lived phenotype of the ptl-1(ok621) null mutant.

The presence of the ptl-1(ok621) mutation in the genetic background of each transgenic line is indicated by the addition of “ptl-1(ok621)” in the strain name. (a) PTL-1 expression as shown by a translational GFP fusion is enriched in neurons and is also present in non-neuronal tissues. i–iii) Micrographs from a single transgenic animal indicating particular anatomical features where PTL-1::GFP is expressed including the nerve ring in the head, cells in the vulva and seam cells. iv–vii) Micrographs from other transgenic animals indicating PTL-1::GFP expression in muscle, seam cells, vulval cells and neurons. Anatomical features are highlighted by white arrows. (b) i. Staining for PTL-1::V5 in pan-neuronal re-expression line. The left panel shows the head, with the white arrow indicating neurons of the nerve ring and the pink outline indicates the approximate position of the pharynx. The right panel shows the tail, with the white arrowheads indicating tail neurons. ii. Lifespan assay conducted for pan-neuronal transgenic worms. (c) i. Staining for PTL-1::V5 in TRN-specific re-expression lines. The left panel indicates the tail, with PLM neurons indicated by white arrowheads. The right panel indicates the mid-body of the worm, showing an ALM neuron. The white arrowhead here indicates the cell body. ii. Lifespan assay for TRN-specific transgenic worms. Survival curves for control wild-type and ptl-1(ok621) animals in both graphs were obtained in the same experiment. n = 120 at day 0. Results of statistical analysis are indicated by p-values underneath each graph. Details of p-values are shown in Supplementary Table S1. Lifespan experiments were conducted twice independently, and the representative data shown are from one experiment. Survival curves obtained from the second independent lifespan experiment are shown in Supplementary Figure S1.