Fig. 3: ROS accumulation in the fat body and oenocyte under social isolation.
From: Social isolation shortens lifespan through oxidative stress in ants
a Quantification of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, mean ± SEM with all data points) levels in the head (ctrl: n = 22, Mel: n = 23, p = 0.44), digestive tract (DT, ctrl: n = 21, Mel: n = 21, p = 0.92), and fat body with oenocyte (FB + OE, ctrl: n = 20, Mel: n = 20, p < 0.001) for grouped (G, dark gray) and isolated (I, light gray) ants. b Representative images of oxidative stress markers in oenocytes and trophocytes (the main cell-type of the fat body) in grouped and isolated ants (left). CellROX (top), 4-HNE (middle), and SYTOX (bottom) are shown in magenta, and nuclei in green. Representative nuclei are labeled with white arrowheads for oenocytes, and white arrows for trophocytes. Scale bar: 50 µm. Quantification of CellROX (top, G: n = 204, I: n = 214, p < 0.0001), 4-HNE (middle, G: n = 206, I: n = 269, p < 0.0001) and SYTOX (bottom, G: n = 299, I: n = 242, p < 0.0001) in the oenocytes of grouped (G, dark gray) and isolated (I, light gray) ants. Boxes and median lines represent inter-quartile range and median values, and whiskers represent minimum and maximum values of data within 1.5-fold of the inter-quartile range. Points indicate outliers. c Relationship between ROS levels quantified with CellROX intensity and the behavioral parameters, wall:nest ratio (grouped: p = 0.48, isolated: p = 0.021), speed (grouped: p = 0.085, isolated: p = 0.47), and distance covered (grouped: p = 0.66, isolated: p = 0.51) in grouped (open circle with dashed line, n = 41) and isolated (filled circle with solid line, n = 35) ants. R-squared value from a simple linear model. GLMMs and subsequent ANOVAs with Tukey’s post-hoc tests were used for (a), and Mann–Whitney U-tests were used for (b), and correlations between behavioral parameters and CellROX intensity (c) were tested with GLMMs and subsequent ANOVAs. *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001; ns, not significant.
