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. 2017 Jan 24;6:e21166. doi: 10.7554/eLife.21166

Figure 3. DAF-7/TGF-β is required for male mate-searching behavior.

(A) Schematic of mate-searching assay (top). Animals are placed individually into the center of a lawn of bacteria. The tracks of the animal are followed over time and scored for movement beyond 3 cm away from the food source. A representative data curve is shown on the bottom depicting hermaphrodites (solid black), males (dashed black), and daf-7(e1372) mutant males (blue). (B) Probability of leaving values for WT, daf-7 mutant, and daf-7;daf-3 double mutant males. Values plotted are the average + SEM for two independent experiments, n = 40 animals for all strains except daf-7(ok3125) where n = 29. *p<0.05, **p<0.01 as determined by ordinary one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test. n.s., not significant. (C) Probability of leaving values for two independent lines of male animals with genetic ablation of the ASJ neurons, compared with corresponding values for WT and daf-7 mutant males. Values plotted are the average + SEM for two independent experiments for daf-7 mutant animals and three independent experiments for WT control and ASJ ablation strains. n = 60 animals for all strains except daf-7(ok3125) where n = 29 animals. **p<0.01 as determined by ordinary one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test. One replicate was performed with the daf-7;daf-3 double mutant strains in 1B and controls (WT and daf-7) are identical, so probability values for that experiment were used in the averages shown in both B and C of this figure. (D) Probability of leaving values for daf-7(ok3125) mutant animals carrying transgenes expressing daf-7 cDNA specifically under the control of the indicated promoters. Values on graph are the average + SEM of two independent experiments with an n = 40 total animals for each strain. **p<0.01 as determined by ordinary one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test. n.s., not significant.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21166.007

Figure 3.

Figure 3—figure supplement 1. daf-7 regulates mate-searching behavior in males.

Figure 3—figure supplement 1.

(A) Representative mate-searching data for strains with genetic ablation of the ASJ neurons (shown in shades of orange). WT hermaphrodites (solid black), WT males (dashed black), and daf-7 mutant (blue) animals are included in each assay as controls. (B) Representative data for daf-7;daf-3 double mutant (green) in the mate-searching assay. (C) Representative data for daf-7 rescue strains (shown in shades of red). (D) Representative mate-searching curves for daf-1 mutants (purple). (E) Probability of leaving values for WT, daf-7, and daf-1 mutant animals. Values shown are the average + SEM of two independent experiments. n = 40 for WT and daf-7 mutants, n = 32 for daf-1(e1287) and n = 36 for daf-1(m402). *p<0.05 as determined by ordinary one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21166.008
Figure 3—figure supplement 2. daf-7 mutant animals and strains carrying genetic ablation of the ASJ neurons exhibit no locomotion defect.

Figure 3—figure supplement 2.

(A) Schematic of locomotion assay. E. coli food (shown in yellow) was spread to the edges of the plate and a standard mate searching assay performed to determine animal movement on a full lawn of bacteria. (B–C) Raw data curves for daf-7 (blue) and ASJ-ablation (orange) males in locomotion assay. WT males shown in black for reference.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21166.009