Fig. 6. Analysis of maternal mRNA translation efficiency by polysome fractionation. Absorbance (A₂₅₄) profiles for continuous gradient fractionation of wild-type (A) and ife-1 (B) mixed staged hermaphrodite worm extracts depict the polysome content of each strain. The highest resolved peak is the monosome (80S) and each peak to the right represents the addition of one ribosome (polysomes). (C-H) Sedimentation of individual maternal mRNAs. mRNA distribution of oma-1 (C), mex-1 (D), pos-1 (E), pal-1 (F), glp-1 (G) and gpd-3 (H) throughout the gradients was quantified by qRT-PCR. mRNA signal was normalized to RNA content in each fraction. Normalization corrects for slight differences in polysome yield, allowing direct comparison of the translational efficiency of each mRNA. Error bars indicate the standard deviation of triplicate qRT-PCR determinations.