Fig. 2

Maintenance of the reproductive organs and egg production of mature S. japonicum in different culture media. A Fast Blue BB staining (red) showing the changes of vitellaria during cultivation in DMEM, AB169 (1640), and m-AB169 (1640) in 2 weeks. Representative images from three experiments with n ≥ 13 parasites for each group. B DAPI labeling (gray) showing the ovary of cultured adult female parasites on D14 in DMEM, AB169 (1640), and m-AB169 (1640), respectively; Representative images from n ≥ 13 parasites for each group. C The sizes (area) of female ovaries measured by ImageJ. n ≥ 13 worms for each group. ns, not significant, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001, t test. Error bars represent the SD based on three separate experiments. D Rate of daily egg production per worm pair maintained in medium DMEM, AB169 (1640), and m-AB169 (1640), respectively. Dotted line indicates parasites cultured in DMEM begin laying morphologically abnormal eggs from D10. n = 24 worm pairs in each group in three experiments, Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals