Prey species and abundance affect growth and photosynthetic performance of the polyphagous sea slug Elysia crispata [PDF]
Royal Society Open Science, 2023 Some sacoglossan sea slugs steal functional macroalgal chloroplasts (kleptoplasts). In this study, we investigated the effects of algal prey species and abundance on the growth and photosynthetic capacity of the tropical polyphagous sea slug Elysia ...
Paulo Cartaxana +5 more
doaj +5 more sources
Transcriptomic Evidence That Longevity of Acquired Plastids in the Photosynthetic Slugs Elysia timida and Plakobranchus ocellatus Does Not Entail Lateral Transfer of Algal Nuclear Genes [PDF]
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2011 Sacoglossan sea slugs are unique in the animal kingdom in that they sequester and maintain active plastids that they acquire from the siphonaceous algae upon which they feed, making the animals photosynthetic.
Heike Wägele, Sven B Gould, Tal Dagan
exaly +7 more sources
Why It Is Time to Look Beyond Algal Genes in Photosynthetic Slugs [PDF]
Genome Biology and Evolution, 2015 Eukaryotic organelles depend on nuclear genes to perpetuate their biochemical integrity. This is true for mitochondria in all eukaryotes and plastids in plants and algae. Then how do kleptoplasts, plastids that are sequestered by some sacoglossan sea slugs, survive in the animals' digestive gland cells in the absence of the algal nucleus encoding the ...
Heike Wägele +2 more
exaly +10 more sources
Food shaped photosynthesis: Photophysiology of the sea slug Elysia viridis fed with two alternative chloroplast donors [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] [PDF]
Open Research Europe, 2023 Background Some Sacoglossa sea slugs steal and integrate chloroplasts derived from the algae they feed on into their cells where they continue to function photosynthetically, a process termed kleptoplasty.
Luca Morelli +2 more
doaj +2 more sources
Microbiome characterization of the sea slugs Elysia viridis and Placida dendritica: insights into potential roles in kleptoplasty [PDF]
BMC MicrobiologyBackground Kleptoplasty is the process by which functional chloroplasts from algae food sources are sequestered and retained by a host organism. Some sacoglossan sea slugs display this ability, enabling them to survive extended periods of food shortage ...
Patrícia Martins +2 more
doaj +2 more sources
Sea Slug Mucus Production Is Supported by Photosynthesis of Stolen Chloroplasts [PDF]
Biology, 2022 A handful of sea slugs of the order Sacoglossa are able to steal chloroplasts—kleptoplasts—from their algal food sources and maintain them functionally for periods ranging from several weeks to a few months.
Diana Lopes +6 more
doaj +2 more sources
Animals, 2021 Berghia stephanieae is a stenophagous sea slug that preys upon glass anemones, such as Exaiptasia diaphana. Glass anemones host photosynthetic dinoflagellate endosymbionts that sea slugs ingest when consuming E. diaphana. However, the prevalence of these
Ruben X. G. Silva +2 more
doaj +2 more sources
Loss of state transitions in Bryopsidales macroalgae and kleptoplastic sea slugs (Gastropoda, Sacoglossa) [PDF]
Communications BiologyGreen macroalgae within the order Bryopsidales lack the fundamental photoprotective mechanisms of green algae, the xanthophyll cycle and energy-dependent dissipation of excess light.
Vesa Havurinne +5 more
doaj +2 more sources
Assessing the Benefits and Costs of the Hydrogen Cyanide Antiherbivore Defense in Trifolium repens [PDF]
Plants, 2023 Understanding the evolution of plant defenses against herbivores requires identifying the benefits and costs of defense. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the benefits and costs of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) defense against herbivory on white clover ...
Hind Emad Fadoul +4 more
doaj +2 more sources
Light Affects Host‐Symbiont Dynamics in the Non‐Photosynthetic Social Amoeba Symbiosis [PDF]
Ecology and EvolutionLight significantly influences phototactic behaviors and host‐bacterial interactions of photosynthetic microorganisms such as algae. The non‐photosynthetic slime mound amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum as the host shows phototaxis in the multicellular ...
Yuehui Tian +4 more
doaj +2 more sources