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. 2015 Feb 17;10(2):e0117444. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117444

Fig 6. riok-1 is required for normal germ cell proliferation.

Fig 6

(A) Overview of the adult C. elegans hermaphrodite gonad. One of the two gonad U-shaped tubular gonad is shown. The single somatic distal tip cell (DTC) maintains a population of self-renewing germline stem cells. Germ cells enter into the meiotic prophase I in the transition zone and then progress to the pachytene stage. During these stages, germ cells are only partially enclosed in a membrane and share a common cytoplasmic core. As germ cells exit pachytene, they move through the “loop” region and enter diplotene and begin to fully cellularise. A signal from sperm directs the most proximal oocytes to undergo maturation and fertilisation occurs are the oocyte moves through the spermatheca into the uterus. (B-C) Dissected gonads were stained with anti-pH3 staining to detect proliferating germ cells and DAPI to visualise DNA. Asterisks indicate the distal end of the gonad. Scale bar = 15μm. (D-E) riok-1(RNAi) gonads had a reduced number of pH3 stained cells in the mitotic zone (D) Wild-type worms with riok-1 knocked down at 20°C and 25°C (n = 50) (E)) rrf-1;pCB19(RNAi) and rrf-1:riok-1(RNAi) worms at 20°C and 25°C (n = 50). Error bars represent SEM; **** = P values <0.0001.