Fig 6. mai-2 mutants show no defects in fertility or lifespan.

To quantify the offspring and embryonic development, L4 wild-type (control), mai-2(xm18) and mai-2(xm19) animals were transferred to new plates every 24 h over the course of 4 days at 20°C. The plates were scored for offspring (A) and dead embryos (B). Total progeny included all the offspring that developed (as larvae) or died as embryos. Embryos not hatching after 24 h after being laid were considered dead. For N2, the average of three independent experiments is shown, for mai-2(xm18) and (xm19) the average of two independent experiments is shown (means±SEM). Statistical significance was determined by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey post-test and was not significant (ns). The number of analyzed animals (N) is indicated in each graph. (C) For the lifespan assay, wild-type and mai-2(xm18) animals were scored every other day until all of them were found death (aprox. 30 days) at 20°C. The data represent the mean of two independent replicates in which 50 worms per group were assayed. The interaction effect of wild-type and mai-2(xm18) was calculated by two-way ANOVA and were not significant (not shown).