Figure 4.
Blocking ROS Activity by N-acetylcysteine (NAC) Compromises the LpWJL Buffering Capacity
(A) In the DGRP F2 progeny, feeding LpWJL mono-associated animals with food supplemented with NAC increases the variances in size-matched larvae. Average Lp larval size: 4.08mm; average GF larval size: 3.83mm; average LpWJL + NAC larval size: 3.94mm. There is no size difference between GF and NAC-treated flies associated with LpWJL, p = 0.064. CVLp = 15.8%, CVGF = 20.8%; CVLp+NAC = 24.0%.
(B and C) NAC treatment to the Lp-associated animals also increases the variances of pupariation (B) and adult emergence (C). The average day to become a pupa for LpWJL mono-associated larva: Day 8.9 (Var = 2.13); for a GF larva: Day 16.1 (Var = 8.27); for a NAC-treated, mono-associated larva: Day 16.8 (Var = 8.36). The average day for an LpWJL mono-associated adult to emerge is: Day14.1 (Var = 2.08), for a GF adult: Day 21 (Var = 8.3), and for an NAC-treated, mono-associated adult: Day 21.7 (Var = 11.3).
(D and E) NAC treatment to the LpWJL mono-associated animals also increases the among-population variances of pupariation and adult emergence. Each data point represents the variance calculated based on the average day of pupariation (D) or adult emergence (E) from each tube housing approximately 40 animals.
(F) Morphological defects in the wings are also significantly increased in NAC-treated mono-associated adults (χ2 test, p < 0.0001***) pink: GF (N = 340); Blue: +LpWJL (N = 293), Green: + LpWJL + NAC (N = 503). Data are represented as mean and 10–90 percentile in all panels.