Figure 2
Division asymmetries in C. elegans embryos lacking the eggshell. (A) Representative maximum-intensity projections of early C. elegans embryos after removing the eggshell but leaving the vitellin layer intact (red, green: plasma membrane, chromatin). Scale bar: 10 μm. (B) Volumetric ratio, VR, of daughter cells emerging from the named mother cell (median of n = 11 embryos, error bars indicate the standard deviation) with the volume-dependent level of uncertainty. Color-coding as in Fig. 1E. (C) Comparison of the median values without (red) and with (black) an intact eggshell. Please note that bars for P2 and P3 have been reduced by 0.5 for better visibility. Error bars are equal to those shown in Figs 1E and 2B and have been omitted here for better readability of the plot; please see Fig. S2 for a version including error bars. While asymmetries in the germline are preserved, most somatic cells tend to decrease their level of asymmetry upon removal of the eggshell.
