The origin of plastids (chloroplasts) by endosymbiosis stands as one of the most important
events in the history of eukaryotic life. The genetic, biochemical, and cell biological …

The tree model and tree-based methods have played a major, fruitful role in evolutionary
studies. However, with the increasing realization of the quantitative and qualitative …

Molluscs comprise the second largest phylum of animals (after arthropods), occurring in
virtually all habitats. Some are commercially important, a few are pests and some carry …

Plastid endosymbiosis has been a major force in the evolution of eukaryotic cellular
complexity, but how endosymbionts are integrated is still poorly understood at a mechanistic …

To date, sea slugs have been considered the only animals known to sequester functional
algal plastids into their own cells, via a process called “kleptoplasty.” We report here …

Photosynthetic animals produce oxygen, providing an ideal lens for studying how oxygen
dynamics influence thermal sensitivity. The algivorous sea slug Elysia viridis can steal and …

Some sea slugs sequester chloroplasts from algal food in their intestinal cells and
photosynthesize for months. This phenomenon, kleptoplasty, poses a question of how the …

The stramenopiles encompass an incredible diversity of organisms, including ecologically
fundamental single-celled algae such as diatoms, giant macroalgae such as kelps, as well …

The enigmatic association of photosynthetically active chloroplasts from algae and some
sacoglossan sea slugs, called functional kleptoplasty, is a functional unique system of …

Abstract Sacoglossans, or “sap-sucking” sea slugs, are primarily algivorous, with many taxa
exhibiting kleptoplasty, the feeding and retaining of photosynthetically active chloroplasts …