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. 2016 Apr 14;12(4):e1005985. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005985

Fig 4. DDR increases with past reproductive activity and curtails reproductive capacity.

Fig 4

(A) Average number of RPA-1::YFP foci per nucleus in late pachytene. Image panels show example RPA-1 foci (arrows; YFP: green; DNA: red). Scale bars: 2.5 μm. For statistical tests see S4A Table. (B) Total brood size is larger for mated hus-1(op241) (red bar) than for mated wild-type (blue bar). For statistical tests see S4B Table. Error bars represent 83% confidence intervals; asterisks indicate significance of Wilcoxon rank sum test p‑value. To test whether the DDR curtails reproductive activity, we utilized the hus-1 reduction of function allele op241. This mutation abrogates multiple forms of DDR [30] but preserves normal reproductive activity in selfed worms [31]. Mated hus-1(op241) hermaphrodites had a significantly larger brood size than wild-type controls (S4B Table and Fig 4B); the reproductive schedule was almost identical between days 1 and 3, but from day 4 onward op241 had a ~1.5-fold greater number of progeny. This shows that the DDR hastens reproductive senescence, by a mechanism that remains to be identified.