Long-term L1 starvation causes tissue damage and delay in development during recovery.

<p>A Fraction of worms that reach adulthood after indicated days of L1 starvation (see Materials and Methods). Approximately 100 worms were used per experiment and each experiment was done with triplicates. B Cumulative fraction of worms that reach adulthood after indicated days of L1 starvation. Line drawn to show the time when 50% worms reach adulthood after indicated hours of refeeding. C DIC (Differential Interference Contrast) image of wild type gonad: the worm was starved for 3 days as an L1 and recovered to grow to an adult. For all experiments to observe gonad defect, approximately 100 worms were used per experiment and each experiment was done with triplicates. D DIC image of wild type gonad: the worm was starved for 9 days as an L1 at 20°C and recovered to grow to an adult at 20°C. No eggs are visible. E–F DIC images of gonads of <i>daf-16</i> mutants (E) and <i>daf-18</i> mutants (F): worms were starved for 3 days at 20°C as L1s and recovered to grow to adults at 20°C. No eggs are visible. G Percent destroyed gonad increases as L1 starvation continues.