Fig. 4. Mutations in lin-40 and egl-27 affect the fusion between Pn.ps and hyp7 during the L2 stage. y-axis represents the percentage of Pn.ps that remain unfused. (A) A partial loss-of-function mutation in lin-40 caused an elevated percentage of the unfused cell fate in P3.p. This effect was suppressed by a mutation in lin-39(n1760). The egl-27(n170) null allele also enhanced the unfused cell fate in P3.p. *P<0.001, **P<0.05. P values were derived from comparing data from the mutants to that from the wild-type animals. (B) Although lin-40(ku285) alone did not affect the fusion in P(9-11).p, it dramatically increased the abnormal unfused fate in these cells in an egl-27(n170) background. P values were derived from comparing the fusion frequencies of P9.p, P10.p and P11.p between egl-27 and egl-27; lin-40.