Fig. 2: CEPsh glia present age-progressive loss of membrane sheath integrity in unc-23 mutants.

CEPsh glia (a, schematics) have defective morphology, with increased membrane length in unc-23 L4 mutants (n = 29) compared to WT animals (n = 21) (b-c). d arg5 defects are mimicked by unc-23(e25) mutant and rescued by the wild-type unc-23 genomic locus (g. locus). e, f Defects of glial cell length aggravate with age progression.(ad, adults). g–j Compared to wild-type animals, in unc-23 mutants, CEPsh glia membranes show abnormal decrease of volume throughout stages (g, h) and increase of their length but not their surface, as assessed quantitatively. k, l CEPsh glia have normal nuclei numbers in L2 stage of unc-23 mutant animals, at the start of establishment of their membrane defects. b, e, k glia membrane, green; glia nuclei, magenta. Arrows, membrane defects. p values: *** for ≤0.0001; **≤0.001, *≤0.01; unpaired two-sided t-test (c, g–j), two-sided Fisher’s exact test (d–f, l). l p value in contingency table = 1.0000 (two-tailed unpaired Chi-square test). 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.