Fig. 1: C. elegans grows faster than linearly within larval stages.
From: Coupling of growth rate and developmental tempo reduces body size heterogeneity in C. elegans
a Illustration of volume divergence during exponential growth. The blue individual has a 10% faster growth rate than the red individual (0.11/h vs. 0.10/h). b Images of the same individual at birth and moult 1 (M1) to moult 4 (M4). Dotted square indicates edge of the chamber with dimensions of 600 µm × 600 µm. The red line shows the segmentation outline. Images at the bottom are computationally straightened animals used for volume computation shown in Fig. 1e. c Volume measurement of one individual as a function of time starting at hatching. Arrows indicate larval stage transitions detected as restart of growth after lethargus. d Average absolute (µabs) and relative (µrel) growth rate during development. The x-axis indicates the fraction τ of larval stage progression (τ = [time since last moult]/[total duration of larval stage]). Average growth rates were computed by re-scaling individuals according to moulting times and averaging growth rates across all individuals at the same τ. Dips in the growth rate correspond to growth halt during lethargus. Dashed lines are 95% confidence intervals for the mean of day-to-day repeats. e Box plots of larval stage duration, volume, and volume fold change in micro chambers. Grey dots are individuals, blue lines: median, red dots: mean, box: interquartile ranges (IQR), whisker: ranges except extreme outliers (>1.5*IQR), n = 639, 1142, 1144, 1095 (for L1 to L4) biologically independent animals examined over 10 independent experiments.
