Figure 9

Schematic representation of the Fitness Assay. A) Timeline of the Fitness Assay. About two weeks should be allowed from the inoculation of worms from which synchronized L1s will derive to the complete analysis of the data. B) Depiction of the Fitness Curves (FCs) produced by wild type worms (left) or sick worms (right). Different FCs from sick worms have been observed. This seems to depend on the penetrance and the type of phenotypes, e.g. low brood sizes, slow growth, embryonic lethality or sterility. C) Pictures of the N2 worms seeded for a typical Fitness Assay taken at 0, 72, 96, 120, and 144 hours showing that the experiment starts with synchronized L1s, that these will produce progeny visible at 72 hours, and that these progeny are growing. For each picture, the worms are taken out of a well (from a 96-well plate) and seeded on an NGM plate without food to reduce bacterial interference during photography.