ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2008
Horizontal gene transfer of the algal nuclear gene psbO to the photosynthetic sea slug Elysia chlorotica.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 81 papers.
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81 citing papers in PubMed, 258 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes of Sphaerosorus coelastroides Pascher (Xanthophyceae) from Central Appalachia, Clinch River, Virginia, United States.Journal of phycology · 2026Article
- Draft hybrid genome assembly of the photosynthetic sacoglossan Elysia crispata provides insights into sacoglossan biology.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Laboratory Rearing of the Photosynthetic Sea SlugBiology · 2026Article
- Loss of state transitions in Bryopsidales macroalgae and kleptoplastic sea slugs (Gastropoda, Sacoglossa).Communications biology · 2025Article
- Chromosome-level genome assembly of the sacoglossan sea slug Elysia timida (Risso, 1818).BMC genomics · 2024Article
- A reference genome for the long-term kleptoplast-retaining sea slug Elysia crispata morphotype clarki.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2023Article
- The Multi-Causal Basis of Developmental Potential Construction.Acta biotheoretica · 2023Article
- Kleptoplasty: Getting away with stolen chloroplasts.PLoS biology · 2022Article
- Genome-Wide Analyses of Heat Shock Protein Superfamily Provide New Insights on Adaptation to Sulfide-Rich Environments inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Carotenoid modifying enzymes in metazoans.Methods in enzymology · 2022Article
- Horizontal gene transfer from genetically modified plants - Regulatory considerations.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Article
- Horizontal Gene Transfers in Plants.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Genetic autonomy and low singlet oxygen yield support kleptoplast functionality in photosynthetic sea slugs.Journal of experimental botany · 2021Article
- Multiple integrated metabolic strategies allow foraminiferan protists to thrive in anoxic marine sediments.Science advances · 2021Article
- Article
- Horizontal Gene Transfer Involving Chloroplasts.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Slowly seeing the light: an integrative review on ecological light pollution as a potential threat for mollusks.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Review
- Identification of scavenger receptors and thrombospondin-type-1 repeat proteins potentially relevant for plastid recognition in Sacoglossa.Ecology and evolution · 2020Article
- Adaptive significance of light and food for a kleptoplastic sea slug: implications for photosynthesis.Oecologia · 2020Article
- Co-evolution in the Jungle: From Leafcutter Ant Colonies to Chromosomal Ends.Journal of molecular evolution · 2020Review
21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
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Abstract
The sea slug Elysia chlorotica acquires plastids by ingestion of its algal food source Vaucheria litorea. Organelles are sequestered in the mollusc's digestive epithelium, where they photosynthesize for months in the absence of algal nucleocytoplasm. This is perplexing because plastid metabolism depends on the nuclear genome for >90% of the needed proteins. Two possible explanations for the persistence of photosynthesis in the sea slug are (i) the ability of V. litorea plastids to retain genetic autonomy and/or (ii) more likely, the mollusc provides the essential plastid proteins. Under the latter scenario, genes supporting photosynthesis have been acquired by the animal via horizontal gene transfer and the encoded proteins are retargeted to the plastid. We sequenced the plastid genome and confirmed that it lacks the full complement of genes required for photosynthesis. In support of the second scenario, we demonstrated that a nuclear gene of oxygenic photosynthesis, psbO, is expressed in the sea slug and has integrated into the germline. The source of psbO in the sea slug is V. litorea because this sequence is identical from the predator and prey genomes. Evidence that the transferred gene has integrated into sea slug nuclear DNA comes from the finding of a highly diverged psbO 3' flanking sequence in the algal and mollusc nuclear homologues and gene absence from the mitochondrial genome of E. chlorotica. We demonstrate that foreign organelle retention generates metabolic novelty ("green animals") and is explained by anastomosis of distinct branches of the tree of life driven by predation and horizontal gene transfer.
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