Fig. 2: Immunofluorescence and differential gene expression analyses identify traits facilitating frugivory in the Jamaican fruit (JF) bat kidney.

A UMAPs of type B intercalated cell marker gene SLC26A4 expression in each species (Jamaican fruit (JF) and big brown (BB) bat). B (Left) Representative images of SLC26A4 immunofluorescence (red) in bat kidneys. Nuclei are stained with DAPI (blue). (Right) Quantification of SLC26A4 immunofluorescence normalized to nuclei in bat kidneys. Results represent arbitrary units of fluorescence (AU) mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) derived from 3 insectivorous and 3 frugivorous bats (n = 3/phenotype, n = 10 images/individual [see Methods]). Mixed effects model (two-sided) ***p-value = 0. Exact p-value C (Left) Representative images of SLC12A1 immunofluorescence (red) in bat kidneys. Nuclei are stained with DAPI (blue). (Right) Quantification of SLC12A1 immunofluorescence normalized to nuclei in bat kidneys. Results represent mean (AU) ± standard error of the mean (SEM) derived from 3 insectivorous and 3 frugivorous bats (n = 3/phenotype, n = 10 images/individual [see Methods]). Mixed effects model (two-sided) ***p-value = 0. D Bar plots showing Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Human 2021 pathways enriched in fruit bat type B intercalated cells. Q-values were calculated with a one-sided Fisher’s exact test and corrected with the Benjamini-Hochberg method. E Violin plot of ATP6V1G3 expression in type B intercalated cells. F Bar plots showing KEGG Human 2021 pathways enriched in fruit bat type A intercalated cells. P-value calculated with a two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test and the Bonferroni correction. G Violin plots of SLC2A9, RHBG, KCNMA1, and KLK1 in type A intercalated cells. P-values were calculated with a two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test and the Bonferroni correction. H Bar plots showing KEGG Human 2021 pathways enriched in insectivore thick ascending limbs. Q-values were calculated with a one-sided Fisher’s exact test and corrected with the Benjamini-Hochberg method. I Violin plots of SLC9A3, OXSR1, STK39, and KCNJ1 expression in TAL. P-values calculated with two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test and the Bonferroni correction. J Volcano plot showing differentially expressed genes between species in proximal tubules cells. P-values calculated with two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test and the Bonferroni correction. K Dot plots showing the expression of gluconeogenesis and various SLC5 genes in bat proximal tubules and proximal tubules-like cells. Jamaican fruit bat is depicted as JF and big brown bat as BB in the various panels. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.