Fig. 1: WARS-1 depletion reduces the mitotic index in the C. elegans germline.
a Schematic representation of a hermaphrodite germline. Each adult hermaphrodite worm has two distinct germlines. These germlines are characterized by various stages of mitotic and meiotic cell divisions. The central component of this system is the Distal Tip Cell (DTC), which serves as the stem cell niche responsible for generating all germ cells in the germline. As germ cells migrate from the DTC towards the vulva, they first engage in mitotic proliferation within the mitotic region. Subsequently, they transition through a zone leading into stages of pachytene and diakinesis. Eventually, the mature oocytes pass the spermatheca, where fertilization occurs. The initial phases of embryogenesis then take place before the embryos are laid. b Contribution of amino acids in C. elegans proteome. Tryptophan is the least used amino acid in the C. elegans proteome, as shown in the chart. c Reduced Mitotic index upon wars-1 knockdown (KD). Immunostaining of isolated germline using an antibody against Phosphorylation of histone H3 at Serine 10 (H3pSer10) in wild type and upon wars-1 RNAi. The bottom row shows a zoom-in of the dashed box showing a metaphase plate with the maximum condensation of chromatin and H3pSer10 intensity in control. d Quantification of H3pSer10 positive cells. Number of H3pSer10 positive cells in the control RNAi and wars-1 RNAi treated worms. Knocking down wars-1 significantly reduced the mitotic index (****P < 0.0001, n > 17). The F-test to compare variances resulted in non-significant differences (P = 0.1311). An unpaired t-test was used to compare the differences between the means of the two groups. The error bars represent the standard deviation. The scale bar in panel c represents 20 μm except for the scale bar in the zoomed-in section, which corresponds to 2 μm.
