ArticleScientific reports2017
Kleptoplast photosynthesis is nutritionally relevant in the sea slug Elysia viridis.
Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Red light promotes sea slug growth while blue light increases longevity of stolen chloroplasts.Biology open · 2026Article
- Microbiome characterization of the sea slugs Elysia viridis and Placida dendritica: insights into potential roles in kleptoplasty.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Chromosome-level genome assembly of the sacoglossan sea slug Elysia timida (Risso, 1818).BMC genomics · 2024Article
- Prey species and abundance affect growth and photosynthetic performance of the polyphagous sea slugRoyal Society open science · 2023Article
- Kleptoplasty: Getting away with stolen chloroplasts.PLoS biology · 2022Article
- Ultraviolet screening by slug tissue and tight packing of plastids protect photosynthetic sea slugs from photoinhibition.Photosynthesis research · 2022Article
- Photosynthesis from stolen chloroplasts can support sea slug reproductive fitness.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Article
- On the art of stealing chloroplasts.eLife · 2020Article
- Adaptive significance of light and food for a kleptoplastic sea slug: implications for photosynthesis.Oecologia · 2020Article
- Article
- Functional kleptoplasts intermediate incorporation of carbon and nitrogen in cells of the Sacoglossa sea slug Elysia viridis.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Seasonality and Longevity of the Functional Chloroplasts Retained by the Sacoglossan Sea SlugZoological studies · 2020Article
- Kleptoprotein bioluminescence:Science advances · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Several sacoglossan sea slug species feed on macroalgae and incorporate chloroplasts into tubular cells of their digestive diverticula. We investigated the role of the "stolen" chloroplasts (kleptoplasts) in the nutrition of the sea slug Elysia viridis and assessed how their abundance, distribution and photosynthetic activity were affected by light and starvation. Elysia viridis individuals feeding on the macroalga Codium tomentosum were compared with starved specimens kept in dark and low light conditions. A combination of variable Chl a fluorescence and hyperspectral imaging, and HPLC pigment analysis was used to evaluate the spatial and temporal variability of photopigments and of the photosynthetic capacity of kleptoplasts. We show increased loss of weight and body length in dark-starved E. viridis as compared to low light-starved sea slugs. A more pronounced decrease in kleptoplast abundance and lower photosynthetic electron transport rates were observed in dark-starved sea slugs than in low light-starved animals. This study presents strong evidence of the importance of kleptoplast photosynthesis for the nutrition of E. viridis in periods of food scarcity. Deprived of photosynthates, E. viridis could accelerate the breakdown of kleptoplasts in the dark to satisfy its' energy requirements.
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