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Kleptoplast
Kleptoplasty or kleptoplastidy is a symbiotic phenomenon whereby plastids, notably chloroplasts from algae, are sequestered by host organisms. The word is derived from ''Kleptes'' (κλέπτης) which is Greek for thief. The alga is eaten normally and partially digested, leaving the plastid intact. The plastids are maintained within the host, temporarily continuing photosynthesis and benefiting the predator. The term was coined in 1990 to describe chloroplast symbiosis. Ciliates '' Mesodinium rubrum'' is a ciliate that steals chloroplasts from the cryptomonad ''Geminigera cryophila''. ''M. rubrum'' participates in additional endosymbiosis by transferring its plastids to its predators, the dinoflagellate planktons belonging to the genus ''Dinophysis''. Karyoklepty is a related process in which the nucleus of the prey cell is kept by the predator as well. This was first described in 2007 in ''M. rubrum''. Dinoflagellates The stability of transient plastids varies considera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elysiella Pusilla
''Elysia pusilla'' is a species of small sea slug, a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusk in the family Plakobranchidae. It is a sacoglossan. ''Elysia pusilla'' feeds on the calcified green alga ''Halimeda'' and incorporates functioning chloroplasts into its body, thus it is known as a solar-powered sea slug. It is found in shallow water in tropical regions of the Indo-Pacific wherever its host species grows. Elysia ''pusilla'' are part of Sacoglossa, also known as the solar powered sea slugs and might be the most common Elysia species. Sacoglossans are marine gastropods that ingest the chloroplast of algae. Sacoglossa has two superfamilies under it: Plakobranchidae and Oxynoace. The distinguishing feature between the two superfamilies is having a shell or being able to store chloroplast. Oxynoacea consists of three shelled families, all of whom don't photosynthesize with the algae they consume. However, they might be able to retain the chloroplast and use it as camouflage. E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacoglossa
Sacoglossa, commonly known as the sacoglossans or the "solar-powered sea slugs", are a superorder of small sea slugs and sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks that belong to the clade Heterobranchia. Sacoglossans live by ingesting the cellular contents of algae, hence they are sometimes called "sap-sucking sea slugs". Some sacoglossans simply digest the fluid which they suck from the algae, but in some other species, the slugs sequester and use within their own tissues living chloroplasts from the algae they eat, a very unusual phenomenon known as kleptoplasty, for the "stolen" plastids. This earns them the title of the "solar-powered sea slugs", and makes them unique among metazoan organisms, for otherwise kleptoplasty is known only among single-celled protists. The Sacoglossa are divided into two clades - the shelled families (Oxynoacea) and the shell-less families (Plakobranchacea). The four families of shelled species are: Cylindrobullidae, Volvatellidae, Oxynoidae, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chloroplast
A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it in the energy-storage molecules ATP and NADPH while freeing oxygen from water in the cells. The ATP and NADPH is then used to make organic molecules from carbon dioxide in a process known as the Calvin cycle. Chloroplasts carry out a number of other functions, including fatty acid synthesis, amino acid synthesis, and the immune response in plants. The number of chloroplasts per cell varies from one, in unicellular algae, up to 100 in plants like ''Arabidopsis'' and wheat. A chloroplast is characterized by its two membranes and a high concentration of chlorophyll. Other plastid types, such as the leucoplast and the chromoplast, contain little chlorophyll and do not carry out photosynthesis. Chloroplasts are highly dynamic—they circulat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinoflagellate
The dinoflagellates (Greek δῖνος ''dinos'' "whirling" and Latin ''flagellum'' "whip, scourge") are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered algae. Dinoflagellates are mostly marine plankton, but they also are common in freshwater habitats. Their populations vary with sea surface temperature, salinity, and depth. Many dinoflagellates are photosynthetic, but a large fraction of these are in fact mixotrophic, combining photosynthesis with ingestion of prey (phagotrophy and myzocytosis). In terms of number of species, dinoflagellates are one of the largest groups of marine eukaryotes, although substantially smaller than diatoms. Some species are endosymbionts of marine animals and play an important part in the biology of coral reefs. Other dinoflagellates are unpigmented predators on other protozoa, and a few forms are parasitic (for example, ''Oodinium'' and ''Pfiesteria''). Some dinoflagellates pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elysia Chlorotica
''Elysia chlorotica'' (common name the eastern emerald elysia) is a small-to-medium-sized species of green sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusc. This sea slug superficially resembles a nudibranch, yet it does not belong to that clade. Instead it is a member of the clade Sacoglossa, the sap-sucking sea slugs. Some members of this group use chloroplasts from the algae they eat for photosynthesis, a phenomenon known as kleptoplasty. ''Elysia chlorotica'' is one species of such "solar-powered sea slugs". It lives in a subcellular endosymbiotic relationship with chloroplasts of the marine heterokont alga ''Vaucheria litorea''. Distribution ''Elysia chlorotica'' can be found along the east coast of the United States, including the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island, Florida, (east Florida and west Florida) and Texas. They can also be found as far north as Nova Scotia, Canada. Ecology This species is most commonly found in sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plastid
The plastid (Greek: πλαστός; plastós: formed, molded – plural plastids) is a membrane-bound organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of plants, algae, and some other eukaryotic organisms. They are considered to be intracellular endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. Examples include chloroplasts (used for photosynthesis), chromoplasts (used for pigment synthesis and storage), and leucoplasts (non-pigmented plastids that can sometimes differentiate). The event which led to permanent endosymbiosis in the Archaeplastida clade (of Embryophyte, land plants, red algae, and green algae) probably occurred with a cyanobiont (a symbiotic cyanobacteria) related to the genus ''Gloeomargarita lithophora, Gloeomargarita'', around 1.5 billion years ago. A later primary endosymbiosis event occurred in photosynthetic ''Paulinella'' amoeboids about 90–140 million years ago. This plastid belongs to the "PS-clade" (of the cyanobacteria genera ''Prochlorococcus'' and ''Synechococcus''). Chloroplas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Slug
Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary time have either completely lost their shells, or have seemingly lost their shells due to having a greatly reduced or internal shell. The name "sea slug" is most often applied to nudibranchs, as well as to a paraphyletic set of other marine gastropods without obvious shells. Sea slugs have an enormous variation in body shape, color, and size. Most are partially translucent. The often bright colors of reef-dwelling species implies that these animals are under constant threat of predators, but the color can serve as a warning to other animals of the sea slug's toxic stinging cells (nematocysts) or offensive taste. Like all gastropods, they have small, razor-sharp teeth, called radulas. Most sea slugs have a pair of rhinophores—sensory te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karyoklepty
Karyoklepty is a strategy for cellular evolution, whereby a predator Cell (biology), cell appropriates the Cell nucleus, nucleus of a cell from another organism to supplement its own biochemical capabilities. In the related process of kleptoplasty, the predator sequesters plastids (especially chloroplasts) from dietary algae. The chloroplasts can still photosynthesize, but do not last long after the prey's cells are metabolised. If the predator can also sequester cell nuclei from the prey to encode proteins for the plastids, it can sustain them. ''Karyoklepty'' is this sequestration of nuclei; even after sequestration, the nuclei are still capable of Transcription (genetics), transcription. Johnson et al. described and named karyoklepty in 2007 after observing it in the ciliate species ''Mesodinium rubrum''. ''Karyoklepty'' is a Greek compound of the words ''karydi'' ("kernel") and ''kleftis'' ("thief"). See also * Endosymbiont References Further reading * {{cite journal , l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesodinium Rubrum
''Mesodinium rubrum'' (or ''Myrionecta rubra'') is a species of ciliates. It constitutes a plankton community and is found throughout the year, most abundantly in spring and fall, in coastal areas. Although discovered in 1908, its scientific importance came into light in the late 1960s when it attracted scientists by the recurrent red colouration it caused by forming massive blooms, that cause red tides in the oceans. Unlike typical protozoans, ''M. rubrum'' can make its own nutrition by photosynthesis. The unusual autotrophic property was discovered in 2006 when genetic sequencing revealed that the photosynthesising organelles, plastids, were derived from the principal food of the ciliate, the photosynthetic algae called cryptomonads (or cryptophytes). It is, thus, both autotrophic and heterotrophic. This nature also indicates that it is an example of endosymbiosis, supporting the endosymbiotic theory, as well as the concept of stealing of cell organelles called kleptoplasti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrionecta Rubra
''Mesodinium rubrum'' (or ''Myrionecta rubra'') is a species of ciliates. It constitutes a plankton community and is found throughout the year, most abundantly in spring and fall, in coastal areas. Although discovered in 1908, its scientific importance came into light in the late 1960s when it attracted scientists by the recurrent red colouration it caused by forming massive blooms, that cause red tides in the oceans. Unlike typical protozoans, ''M. rubrum'' can make its own nutrition by photosynthesis. The unusual autotrophic property was discovered in 2006 when genetic sequencing revealed that the photosynthesising organelles, plastids, were derived from the principal food of the ciliate, the photosynthetic algae called cryptomonads (or cryptophytes). It is, thus, both autotrophic and heterotrophic. This nature also indicates that it is an example of endosymbiosis, supporting the endosymbiotic theory, as well as the concept of stealing of cell organelles called kleptoplastid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars and starches, which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water – hence the name ''photosynthesis'', from the Greek ''phōs'' (), "light", and ''synthesis'' (), "putting together". Most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis; such organisms are called photoautotrophs. Photosynthesis is largely responsible for producing and maintaining the oxygen content of the Earth's atmosphere, and supplies most of the energy necessary for life on Earth. Although photosynthesis is performed differently by different species, the process always begins when energy from light is absorbed by proteins called reaction centers that contain green chlorophyll (and other colored) pigments/chromoph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaucheria Litorea
''Vaucheria litorea'' is a species of yellow-green algae (Xanthophyceae). It grows in a filamentous fashion (forming long tubular cells connected end to end). ''V. litorea'' is a common intertidal species of coastal brackish waters and salt marshes of the Northern Atlantic, along the coasts of Europe and North America. It is also found in the Eastern Pacific coasts of Washington state. It is found to be able to tolerate a large range of salinities, making it euryhaline.Christensen, T. (1998). Salinity preference of twenty species of Vaucheria (Tribophyceae). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 68, pp 531-545, doi:10.1017/S0025315400043381 Like most algae, ''V. litorea'' obtains its energy through photosynthesis taking place in chloroplasts. The chloroplasts of ''V. litorea'' contain the photosynthetic pigments Chlorophyll a, Chlorophyll c, β-Carotene β-Carotene is an organic, strongly coloured red-orange pigment abundant in fungi, plants, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
