<i>exc-7</i> and <i>mec-8</i> genetically interact in a fitness assay.

<p>An average of 10 L1 worms were grown in bacteria expressing dsRNA for 5 days with GFP used as a non-targeting control. The resulting population sizes were counted using a COPAS worm sorter, and values were normalized to the GFP control and used as a proxy for fitness as previously described [<a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007033#pgen.1007033.ref102" target="_blank">102</a>,<a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007033#pgen.1007033.ref103" target="_blank">103</a>]. (A) A multiplicative model was used to calculate the expected fitness value for each mutant/RNAi condition, and <i>exc-7</i> mutant worms subjected to <i>mec-8</i> RNAi exhibit a more severe fitness defect than expected (student’s t-test). A log fitness score of 0 implies no interaction, and a negative log score implies a negative interaction. (B) Time-of-flight (TOF) and extinction (EXT) values of worm populations were also measured using the worm sorter. Lower TOF and EXT values for <i>exc-7</i> mutant worms under <i>mec-8</i> RNAi condition suggest a growth defect more severe than that observed in worms with loss of either <i>exc-7</i> or <i>mec-8</i> alone.