Fig. 2

Continual epithelial cell extrusion compromises barrier integrity and leads to lethal fungal invasion (A–C) Fluorescence images for NTR-mCherry and Rhizopus arrhizus-GFP in the tail fin of 5 dpf larvae after epithelial damage. Arrowheads denote epithelial tissue damage, and asterisks mark the fungus. Scale bar, 200 μm. (D) Mean number of hyphal invasion sites per larva. Hyphal invasion sites were quantified in 37 MTZ-treated larvae and 25 larvae during epithelial homeostasis from 2 independent experiments. Error bars represent SEM; unpaired two-sided t test. (E–G) Maximum intensity projections of confocal images of induced epithelial extrusion and subsequent tissue damage over time (NTR-mCherry and cldnB:lyn-GFP). Boxes denote regions shown below. Double arrowheads denote amounts of tissue contraction. Scale bars, 100 μm. (H and I) Maximum intensity projections of confocal images of homeostatic epithelium and epithelial tissue damage after MTZ treatment (NTR-mCherry and Krt4:GFP). Arrows denote areas of tissue contraction. Arrowheads denote regions with epithelial gaps. Scale bar, 20 μm. (J and K) SEM image of R. arrhizus 749 spores during invasion after mucosal damage. Scale bars, 10 μm. (L) Survival rates of larvae infected with R. arrhizus 749 spores immediately after epithelial damage or after a 24-h recovery period, a time point when the epithelial tissue tears and gaps have largely resolved. Aggregated survival rates based on 42–45 larvae per condition across three independent experiments are plotted. Error bars represent SD; Mantel-Cox log rank test.