Figure 5.

Infection with Symbiodinium reduces NF-κB expression in Aiptasia larvae. (a) NF-κB protein levels were measured by indirect immunofluorescence of aposymbiotic larvae and larvae infected with SSB01 Symbiodinium. The number of symbiont cells in individual larvae were counted by manually scanning through the z-plane in confocal images. Apo, n = 8; Sym, n = 6. No symbionts were seen in Apo larvae. (b) Ap-NF-κB fluorescence in Apo and Sym Aiptasia larvae was quantified using Corrected Total Cell Fluorescence (CTCF) of confocal images measured using ImageJ. Values are relative to the CTCF value of Apo larvae (100). Five larvae were quantified for each group. ***p < 0.0001. (c) Representative immunofluorescence images of naïve aposymbiotic larvae and larvae infected with Symbiodinium. NF-κB panels, NF-κB staining alone. Merged panels: Green, NF-κB; Blue, nuclei; Red, Symbiodinium (e.g., white arrows); Magenta, α-tubulin.