Worms were mounted onto 2% agar pads and anesthetized with 0.2% levamisole. Nomarski microscopy images were acquired with an Orca-R2 digital camera (Hamamatsu) and either a Leica DMRXA2 microscope or a Zeiss Axioskop 2 plus microscope, driven by Volocity 6.3 software (Improvision, Perkin-Elmer). Images of pathology were analyzed semiquantitatively [13 (link), 57 (link)] (Figures S1A–S1E). For pharynx, gonad and tumor pathologies, images were randomized, examined, assigned scores of 1-5 by two independent scorers, and mean values calculated and rounded. Here 1 = youthful, healthy appearance; 2 = subtle signs of deterioration; 3 = clearly discernible, mild pathology; 4 = well developed pathology; and 5 = tissue so deteriorated as to be barely recognizable (e.g., gonad completely disintegrated), or reaching a maximal level (e.g., large tumor filling the entire body width). Intestinal atrophy was quantified by measuring the intestinal width at a point posterior to the uterine tumors, subtracting the lumenal width and dividing by the body width. Yolk accumulation was measured by dividing the area of yolk pools with the area of the body visible in the field of view at 630x magnification.
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