*4.1. C. elegans Strains and Culture Conditions*

The wild type *C. elegans* strain N2 (Var. Bristol), the transgenic *C. elegans* strain OW13 (*grk-1*(ok1239), pkIs2386 [*unc-54*p::α-synuclein::YFP + *unc-119*(+)]), as well as the *E. coli* OP50 feeding strain were obtained from the Caenorhabditis Genetics Centre, University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN, USA). The *C. elegans* strain UA44 (baIn11[P*dat-1*::α-synuclein, P*dat-1*::GFP]) was kindly provided by the Caldwell laboratory, University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL, USA) [118]. *C. elegans* wild type and transgenic strains were grown on standard nematode growth medium (NGM) at 22 ◦C, seeded with *E. coli* OP50 and maintained following standard protocols as described previously [119]. Prior to all tests, synchronous L1 larvae were obtained via "egg prep" by strongly shaking at least 2000 young adults for about 4 min in 10 mL bleaching solution (0.5 mL NaOH (10 M), 2.5 mL sodium hypochlorite-solution (12%), and 7 mL bidest water). After washing with M9 buffer at least three times, the resulting egg pellet was slightly shaken overnight in 4 mL M9 buffer. The following day, the hatched L1 larvae were distributed to NGM plates seeded with OP50. Forty-eight hours later, L4 larvae were transferred to treatment plates as described below. 5-fluoro-2-deoxyuridine (FUdR; Tokyo Chemical Industry, Eschborn, Germany) was used to inhibit fertilization [120] and was dropped onto each plate with a final concentration of 100 μM (according to agar volume).
