Figure 5.

Transplantation experiment to validate the pluripotency of MTG populations

(A) Schematic of colony expansion assay performed.

(B) Representative piwi-1 staining in lethally irradiated sexual worms 8 dpt of ~1000 cells from asexual, SiR-DNA stained MTG populations (see methods). Numbers indicate worms showing piwi-1 colonies. Scale bar, 200 μm. n = 9 worms.

(C) Schematic showing the long-term survival and transformation of sexuals to asexuals by clonogenic neoblast transplantation.

(D) Representative images of worms surviving after receiving clonogenic neoblasts. Initially, the worms show head regression, and approximately 40 to 45 dpt, worms start to develop blastema and completely regenerate the head. After two rounds of amputation, the worms started propagating via fission. Scale bar, 500 μm.

(E) Plots showing the percentage of surviving worms transplanted with ~1500 cells of the respective MTG population. n = 65 worms for 4N-MTG^Low and ^−High, 2N-MTG^Low(HFSC), uninjected control. And n = 35 for the rest of the population performed in five independent replicates.

(F) Bar graph representing the average percentage of worms rescued. Error bar represents standard deviation, over five independent experiments. n = 65 worms for 4N-MTG^Low and ^−High, 2N-MTG^Low (HFSC), and uninjected control. n = 35 for the rest of the population. Mean ± SEM, numbers on the graph represent the respective p value.

See also Figure S6.