ArticlePlant physiology2000
Mollusc-algal chloroplast endosymbiosis. Photosynthesis, thylakoid protein maintenance, and chloroplast gene expression continue for many months in the absence of the algal nucleus.
Article in Plant physiology, 2000. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 139 citations in OpenAlex.
- Draft hybrid genome assembly of the photosynthetic sacoglossan Elysia crispata provides insights into sacoglossan biology.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Molecular and spatial integration of algal endosymbionts of the freshwater sponge, Ephydatia muelleri, throughout development in light and dark conditions.BMC genomics · 2026Article
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- The structure of full-length AFPK supports the ACP linker in a role that regulates iterative polyketide and fatty acid assembly.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Prey species and abundance affect growth and photosynthetic performance of the polyphagous sea slugRoyal Society open science · 2023Article
- Ultraviolet screening by slug tissue and tight packing of plastids protect photosynthetic sea slugs from photoinhibition.Photosynthesis research · 2022Article
- Kleptoplast distribution, photosynthetic efficiency and sequestration mechanisms in intertidal benthic foraminifera.The ISME journal · 2022Article
- Pigment and Fatty Acid Heterogeneity in the Sea SlugAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Genetic autonomy and low singlet oxygen yield support kleptoplast functionality in photosynthetic sea slugs.Journal of experimental botany · 2021Article
- Article
- Kleptoprotein bioluminescence:Science advances · 2020Article
- A new case of kleptoplasty in animals: Marine flatworms steal functional plastids from diatoms.Science advances · 2019Article
- A draft genome assembly of the solar-powered sea slug Elysia chlorotica.Scientific data · 2019Article
- The Interactive Construction of Biological Individuality Through Biotic Entrenchment.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Review
- How does temperature affect functional kleptoplasty? Comparing populations of the solar-powered sister-speciesFrontiers in zoology · 2018Article
- Kleptoplast photosynthesis is nutritionally relevant in the sea slug Elysia viridis.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- On Being the Right Size as an Animal with Plastids.Frontiers in plant science · 2017Review
- Nothing in Evolution Makes Sense Except in the Light of Genomics: Read-Write Genome Evolution as an Active Biological Process.Biology · 2016Review
- Blue-light-regulated transcription factor, Aureochrome, in photosynthetic stramenopiles.Journal of plant research · 2016Review
- Photoprotection in sequestered plastids of sea slugs and respective algal sources.Scientific reports · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Early in its life cycle, the marine mollusc Elysia chlorotica Gould forms an intracellular endosymbiotic association with chloroplasts of the chromophytic alga Vaucheria litorea C. Agardh. As a result, the dark green sea slug can be sustained in culture solely by photoautotrophic CO(2) fixation for at least 9 months if provided with only light and a source of CO(2). Here we demonstrate that the sea slug symbiont chloroplasts maintain photosynthetic oxygen evolution and electron transport activity through photosystems I and II for several months in the absence of any external algal food supply. This activity is correlated to the maintenance of functional levels of chloroplast-encoded photosystem proteins, due in part at least to de novo protein synthesis of chloroplast proteins in the sea slug. Levels of at least one putative algal nuclear encoded protein, a light-harvesting complex protein homolog, were also maintained throughout the 9-month culture period. The chloroplast genome of V. litorea was found to be 119.1 kb, similar to that of other chromophytic algae. Southern analysis and polymerase chain reaction did not detect an algal nuclear genome in the slug, in agreement with earlier microscopic observations. Therefore, the maintenance of photosynthetic activity in the captured chloroplasts is regulated solely by the algal chloroplast and animal nuclear genomes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.