Figure 8.

Average relative gene expression in infected bryozoan and infected fish kidney tissues of; (A) Cnidarian-specific structural proteins, (B) reference and immune-related proteins, (C) unknown proteins. All gene values were normalized to TbRPL18. ΔCq values, stated above each bar, represent the expression level of genes of interest relative to TbRPL18 in each infected host with values > 1 indicating lower expression and values < 1 indicating higher expression relative to TbRPL18. *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001. Black bars = infected fish, grey bars = infected bryozoan. (D) PCR profile showing the presence of Sebox, Ceh-11, Anf-1-like, Otx-2, FZ-2, Rx-1 and Xenk-2 in negative control (H₂0), uninfected bryozoan and fish kidney controls respectively (CB and CF) and T. bryosalmonae-infected bryozoan and fish genomic DNA respectively (IB and IF). M = Molecular weight marker. Full-length gel images are presented in Supplementary Fig. S3. Gene abbreviations: putative group 1 minicollagen-1/2/3/4 (TBNCOL-1/2/3/4), nuclear export mediator factor (NEMF), Thymosin beta 4-like protein (TMSB4), Tetraspanin CD53-like (CD53-like), T. bryosalmonae elongation factor alpha (TbELFa) and T. bryosalmonae ribosomal protein L12 (TbRPL12), Unknown proteins C-168, C-660, C-1242, C39373, C-28481, C-51833 and C-52333.