Fig. 3: Synaptic and axon defects, and neurodegeneration are associated with abnormal glia integrity in unc-23 mutants.

a–l Compared to wild-type animals, in unc-23 mutants the RAB-3-labeled AIY presynaptic sites (magenta, a, b) and CEPsh-AIY contacts sites (green, a, c) are sparser, occupying larger areas with decreased density, while AIY (d–f) and amphid neurons (g–i) have defective positions and axon length, and CEP neurons show degeneration features (j, k) (CEPsh glia, green; all other pseudo-colored in magenta, *, gut autofluorescence). Axon defects of amphid neurons (i) and CEP neuron defects (l) in unc-23 mutants correlate with glia defects (p value = 0.0003 and p value < 0.0001 respectively, two-tailed unpaired Chi-square test). m Axon defects in unc-23 mutants are partially suppressed upon postembryonic CEPsh glia ablation (in L1 onwards), that by itself does not cause axon defects. n Panel explaining categories of defect types in (h–m). n = 3 independent experiments with total animal numbers noted inside bar graphs (h, k, m) or noted as N with genotypes in box-whisker plots (b, c, e, f). p values: ***≤0.0001; **<0.001; *<0.005; ns non-significant. Two-tailed (two-sided) unpaired t-test (b, c, e, f) and Fisher’s test (h, k, m) are used. Arrows, glia defects. Arrowhead, differences between mutant and wild-type in synapses (a), or in cell bodies of neurons AIY (d), amphid (g), CEP (j). Scale bar, animal axes, reporters as in Fig. 1. Reporters as listed in “Methods” and Supplementary Tables 3–5 (see Supplementary Fig. 3). Error bars represent mean ± standard deviation. Total animal numbers are noted inside histogram bars or dot-plot graphs. Number of independent experiments for each condition is n = 3, unless otherwise noted. Dots, limits, lines, whiskers in box-whisker plots are defined as in Fig. 1. The total number of animals per condition and independent experiments, the primary data, and statistical analysis (including two-way ANOVA statistical analysis) are presented in the Source Data. Scale bar, animal axes, reporters defined as in Fig. 1.