Figure 7. O₂-sensing neurons contribute to fitness differences of N2 and N2_glb-5,npr-1.

(a) Schematic showing putative cellular sites of action for glb-5 and npr-1. glb-5 modulates O₂ responses in the URX body cavity neurons. npr-1 is thought to modulate electrical signaling in the RMG hub-and-spoke neuron which forms gap junctions onto URX. (b and c) Competition experiments between indicated strains. qaIs2241 is an integrated genetic cassette that ablates the URX, AQR, and PQR neurons. Green indicates the presence of the cassette (and loss of URX, AQR, and PQR neurons). *p<0.05, **p<0.01 by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney nonparametric test. (d) Bordering rates of indicated strains. The qaIs2241 cassette suppresses bordering of the N2_glb-5,npr-1 strains. NS not significant, *p<0.05 by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney nonparametric test. (e) Pharyngeal pumping rates of N2, and N2 strains carrying the qaIs2241 cassette. *p<0.05 by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney nonparametric test. (f) Relative food consumption rates between the indicated strains. ***p<0.001 by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney nonparametric test. (g) Number of animals observed with fertilized eggs in their uterus. x-axis indicates time from synchronized egg-lay. p=0.0455 by Friedman test.