Sea Slug (Elysia chlorotica)
August 1, 2011
A sea slug (Elysia chlorotica) feeding on Vaucheria litorea, a yellow-green algae. E. chlorotica sequesters chloroplasts from the algae into specialized cells that line the digestive diverticulum, and the chloroplasts are photosynthetically functional for 9 to 11 months. Nuclear-encoded, algal chloroplast genes necessary to the function of the sequestered chloroplasts have been horizontally transferred and integrated into the slug genome. (Date of Image: 2009)
Topics:
Elysia chlorotica, Algae, Placobranchidae, Genome, Yellow-green algae, Cell, Elysia, Chloroplast, Plant physiology, Photosynthesis, Kleptoplasty, Organelles
