Amoebocytes facilitate efficient carbon and nitrogen assimilation in the -Symbiodiniaceae symbiosis.

The upside-down jellyfish engages in symbiosis with photosynthetic microalgae that facilitate uptake and recycling of inorganic nutrients. By contrast to most other symbiotic cnidarians, algal endosymbionts in are not restricted to the gastroderm but are found in amoebocyte cells within the mesoglea. While symbiont-bearing amoebocytes are highly abundant, their role in nutrient uptake and cycling in remains unknown. By combining isotopic labelling experiments with correlated scanning electron microscopy, and Nano-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) imaging, we quantified the anabolic assimilation of inorganic carbon and nitrogen at the subcellular level in juvenile medusae bell tissue. Amoebocytes were clustered near the sub-umbrella epidermis and facilitated efficient assimilation of inorganic nutrients. Photosynthetically fixed carbon was efficiently translocated between endosymbionts, amoebocytes and host epidermis at rates similar to or exceeding those observed in corals. The holobionts efficiently assimilated ammonium, while no nitrate assimilation was detected, possibly reflecting adaptation to highly dynamic environmental conditions of their natural habitat. The motile amoebocytes allow medusae to distribute their endosymbiont population to optimize access to light and nutrients, and transport nutrition between tissue areas. Amoebocytes thus play a vital role for the assimilation and translocation of nutrients in , providing an interesting new model for studies of metabolic interactions in photosymbiotic marine organisms.