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Fig. 7. Enhancement of oogenesis by physiological apoptosis. (A) Apoptosis
facilitates progeny production in car-1(RNAi) and
cpb-3(RNAi) hermaphrodites. Brood size was only modestly reduced by
RNAi depletion of either car-1 or cpb-3 in the N2
background, but was dramatically decreased when RNAi was performed in
ced-3(n717) animals. In this representative experiment, N2,
n=10; cpb-3(RNAi), n=21; car-1(RNAi), n=19;
ced-3, n=10; ced-3;cpb-3(RNAi), n=20; ced-3;cpb-3(RNAi),
n=21. Among multiple experiments, the brood size of ced-3(n717)
varied between 92% and 98% of wild type, always within the range of
statistical insignificance. Importantly, in each experiment car-1 and
cpb-3 RNAi resulted in consistent reductions in brood size in the
wild-type and ced-3 backgrounds. Error bars represent one standard
deviation; asterisks denote P<0.05 by t-test comparing
the results of car-1 or cpb-3 RNAi depletion with either N2
or ced-3(n717) controls. (B-F) Nomarski images of ced-3 and
RNAi hermaphrodites. (B) One-day-old ced-3(n717);car-1(RNAi)
hermaphrodites accumulate abnormal oocytes at the proximal gonad end. DAPI
staining (insert) reveals that these proximal oocytes are arrested in
diakinesis. A white bar indicates the approximate region from which the DAPI
image was obtained from a fixed whole animal. (C) A one-day-old
ced-3(n717) hermaphrodite gonad, depicted as in B, is
indistinguishable from wild type. (D) A four-day-old ced-3(n717)
hermaphrodite gonad. Compared with in the gonad in C, the pachytene region
extends further proximally. Note that only three oocytes are present. (E)
One-day-old ced-3(n717);cpb-3(RNAi) hermaphrodite gonads
have an extended pachytene region (see DAPI staining insert) and fewer oocytes
than normal. (F) A three-day-old ced-3(n717);cpb-3(RNAi)
hermaphrodite gonad. The extended pachytene region is maintained but abnormal
oocytes accumulate proximally, many of which are in diakinesis (not shown).
Oocytes are outlined by dashed lines in B,D-F.
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