Fig. 2. Quantitative analysis of anabolism following incubation with position-specific ¹³C-labelled pyruvate.

Shown is the relative assimilation of ¹³C (mean ± SE of n = 3 coral colonies) after exposure to either [1-¹³C]-pyruvate (grey) or [2,3-¹³C]-pyruvate (white), in the host epidermis a; host gastrodermis b; host lipid bodies c; and algal symbionts d. Incubations were conducted under several treatments: in the light, with and without the inhibition of photosynthesis (i.e., ±DCMU), and at night. Asterisks denote significant differences (α = 0.004) between pyruvate types, within a treatment. Majuscule letters show significant differences between treatments in corals exposed to [1-¹³C]-pyruvate, and lowercase letters show significant differences between treatments in corals exposed to [2,3-¹³C]-pyruvate. The dashed line represents the sensitivity threshold of the NanoSIMS for each region of interest (calculated as the mean + 3-sigma, of the same area in an identically prepared unlabelled control). If ¹³C-‘enrichments’ fell below this limit it was considered not detectable (n.d.).