Fig. 4: Host injury induces distinct molecular responses in algae.

a GO term analysis of algal responses. Bolded GO terms are related to photosynthesis, chlorophyll and carotenoid biosynthesis pathways. NES: normalized enrichment scores. Diagram of the photosynthetic pathway (b), chlorophyll biosynthesis (c), carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCM), and alternative electron flow machinery (d), displaying DEGs (p-adj \(\leqq\) 0.05, calculated with DESEQ2 using Wald test followed by Benjamini and Hochberg correction). Heatmaps report z-scores of average expression at 0, 3, and 6 hpa measured from three biological replicates, each containing 5 acoels. LHCII light harvesting complex of PSII, LHCI light harvesting complex of PSI, e^- electron, PQ plastoquinone, Cyt b₆f cytochorme b₆f, PC plastocyanin, FPP farnesyl pyrophosphate, GGPP geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate. e Heatmaps showing normalized expression of genes associated with light absorption and photochemistry, photosynthetic electron transport (PET), CCM, and chlorophyll biosynthesis under low light (0 LL, 50 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹), after 3 h exposure to high light (3 HL, 150 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹), and 24 h exposure to high light (24 HL). Each row represents a biological replicate containing 5 acoels. Bolded transcripts are affected similarly at 3 HL and 3 hpa.