Fig. 4.

C. elegans oocyte production is sensitive to perturbations in zinc levels. (A) Distribution of oocytes in gonad arms of untreated worms or worms treated with 10 μM TPEN at either the L3 or L4 stage and then scored as young adults. N represents the number of gonad arms measured. p < 0.0001 for L3 and L4. (B) Fluorescence images of worms expressing GFP::histone and GFP::tubulin, showing the number of oocytes in a gonad arm of either untreated or TPEN treated worms. The left column shows the GFP signal, the center column is DNA stained with Hoechst, and the right column is a colored merge. Note that GFP expression increases near the proximal end of the gonad, highlighting the fully-formed oocytes, while Hoechst labels all nuclei in the gonad and in the somatic cells of the worm. Scale bar is 20 μm.