Fig. 2

Weak contraction of the body wall muscles in dys-1 mutant animals. dys-1(tm4402); unc-22(e66) and unc-22(e66) were grown synchronously at 20˚C and were observed at days 4, 7, 9, and 12. The distance the worms traveled in 30 min was quantified (A) Body wall muscle contractility was compared between dys-1(tm4402); unc-22(e66) and unc-22(e66). Compared with unc-22(e66), dys-1(tm4402); unc-22(e66) has weakly contracting body wall muscles. This effect of dystrophin depletion on muscle contractility was detected beginning on day 4 (at L4 stage) (B). Body wall muscle contraction rate was compared between dys-1(tm4402); unc-22(e66) and unc-22(e66) (C). *P = 0.231, **P = 0.009, ***P = 0.0002, ns not significant