FIG 2.

Macrophages phagocytose A. fumigatus conidia, colocalize with hyphae, and mediate host survival. (A and B) Immunocompetent larvae with fluorescent macrophages [Tg(mpeg1:dendra2)] injected with A. fumigatus (gpdA::mCherry::his2A). (A) Time lapse imaging immediately following injection shows rapid phagocytosis of conidia by macrophages by 6 hpi (gray arrows) (see also Movie S2 in the supplemental material). Scale bar, 100 μm. (B) Macrophages closely associate with hyphae in immunocompetent larvae (see also Movie S3 in the supplemental material). Scale bar, 50 μm. (C) Macrophage-deficient irf8 morphant larvae exhibit significant (P < 0.0001) mortality following challenge with A. fumigatus (gpdA::GFP::his2A) and not with a mock PBS infection. Survival data are pooled from five independent experimental replicates, and the P value was calculated by Cox proportional-hazard regression analysis.