FIGURE 3:

Disruption of the spectrin-based membrane skeleton (SBMS) results in ovulation defects. (A) Scoring of gonad contractility defects in animals with disrupted SBMS either by RNAi or the use of alleles. unc-70(s1502) is a null allele and unc-70(e524) and unc-70(n493) are point mutations predicted to disrupt the ability of UNC-70/β to bind SPC-1/α. Example spermathecae that are empty, occupied with an intact oocyte/embryo, occupied with a pinched oocyte, and one gonad with abnormal oocytes are indicated (asterisk). (B) Gonad scored for the EMO phenotype, which was detected using DAPI to label DNA. The spermatheca is indicated by a yellow dashed line in each image. Animals with an EMO phenotype have abnormal, highly polyploid oocytes (yellow arrow). Scale bar, 20 μm. (A) Chi-square test, (B) Fisher’s exact test p value: **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001, ****p ≤ 0.0001. n = number of gonads scored.