FIG. 4.

Mean percentages (±SE; n = 8 animals), determined by using real-time PCR, of intact Vibrio campbellii bacteria g⁻¹ tissue that were culturable using selective plating at 0, 1, 4, and 24 h after injecting 1 × 10⁵ V. campbellii bacteria into the adductor muscle of Crassostrea virginica. Oysters were exposed to either fully air-saturated (normoxic) or HH seawater for 4 h before receiving the injection containing bacteria and remained under these conditions for the remainder of the experiment (up to 24 h postinjection). Significant differences in the percentages of culturable V. campbellii bacteria between normoxia- and HH-exposed oysters at each time point were assessed by analyzing rank-transformed data by two-way ANOVA with the Holm-Sidak method and are indicated by asterisks, whereas significant differences between each time point within normoxia- and HH-exposed animals are indicated by different upper- and lowercase letters, respectively.