Slug Power Phenomenal Image Student Handout

Slug Power Phenomenal Image Student Handout Sea Slug Chloroplast Biology of Cells Published March 2018 www.BioInteractive.org Page 1 of 2 Phenomenal Image Slug Power Student Handout BACKGROUND Slug Image The sacoglossan sea slug Elysia crispata can be found sunbathing on Caribbean reefs. The slug feeds on green algae but can survive for more than a month without eating. This is because sea slugs store chloroplasts, organelles in the cells of plants and algae that capture energy from sunlight and convert it to chemical energy by photosynthesis, as they ingest different species of green algae. The chloroplasts are stored in the slug’s digestive epithelium and remain active for up to 3-4 months, providing nutrients from photosynthesis, as well as camouflage by making the slug green in color. “Kleptoplasty,” or “stolen plastids,” is the term for the slugs’ remarkable ability. Some marine protists including foraminifera, dinoflagellates, and ciliates are capable of kleptoplasty, but sea slugs are the only animals to exhibit kleptoplasty. They represent a powerful model system for studying the evolution of photosynthesis in eukaryotes through multiple endosymbiotic events. Chloroplast Image Humans depend on photosynthesis because it is responsible for most of Earth's primary productivity and fossil fuels are obtained mostly from remains of prehistoric plants. A typical plant cell contains about 10 to 100 chloroplasts. Several lines of evidence, including DNA evidence, suggest that chloroplasts evolved from an endosymbiotic event, when a eukaryotic cell incorporated photosynthetic cyanobacteria. Chloroplasts contain their own DNA that descended from the cyanobacterial ancestor. Biology of Cells Published March 2018 www.BioInteractive.org Page 2 of 2 .

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Frontiers in Zoology Biomed Central
Frontiers in Zoology BioMed Central Research Open Access Functional chloroplasts in metazoan cells - a unique evolutionary strategy in animal life Katharina Händeler*1, Yvonne P Grzymbowski1, Patrick J Krug2 and Heike Wägele1 Address: 1Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany and 2Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Los Angeles, California, 90032-8201, USA Email: Katharina Händeler* - [email protected]; Yvonne P Grzymbowski - [email protected]; Patrick J Krug - [email protected]; Heike Wägele - [email protected] * Corresponding author Published: 1 December 2009 Received: 26 June 2009 Accepted: 1 December 2009 Frontiers in Zoology 2009, 6:28 doi:10.1186/1742-9994-6-28 This article is available from: http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/6/1/28 © 2009 Händeler et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: Among metazoans, retention of functional diet-derived chloroplasts (kleptoplasty) is known only from the sea slug taxon Sacoglossa (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia). Intracellular maintenance of plastids in the slug's digestive epithelium has long attracted interest given its implications for understanding the evolution of endosymbiosis. However, photosynthetic ability varies widely among sacoglossans; some species have no plastid retention while others survive for months solely on photosynthesis. We present a molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for the Sacoglossa and a survey of kleptoplasty from representatives of all major clades. We sought to quantify variation in photosynthetic ability among lineages, identify phylogenetic origins of plastid retention, and assess whether kleptoplasty was a key character in the radiation of the Sacoglossa.
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The Identification of Functional, Sequestered, Symbiotic Chloroplasts
University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2006 The identification of functional, sequestered, symbiotic chloroplasts in Elysia clarki: A crucial step in the study of horizontally transferred, nuclear algal genes Nicholas E. Curtis University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Curtis, Nicholas E., "The identification of functional, sequestered, symbiotic chloroplasts in Elysia clarki: A crucial step in the study of horizontally transferred, nuclear algal genes" (2006). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/2496 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Identification of Functional, Sequestered, Symbiotic Chloroplasts in Elysia clarki: A Crucial Step in the Study of Horizontally Transferred, Nuclear Algal Genes by Nicholas E. Curtis A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Biology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Sidney K. Pierce, Jr., Ph.D. Clinton J. Dawes, Ph.D. Kathleen M. Scott, Ph.D. Brian T. Livingston, Ph.D. Date of Approval: June 15, 2006 Keywords: Bryopsidales, kleptoplasty, sacoglossan, rbcL, chloroplast symbiosis Penicillus, Halimeda, Bryopsis, Derbesia © Copyright 2006, Nicholas E. Curtis Note to Reader The original of this document contains color that is necessary for understanding the data. The original dissertation is on file with the USF library in Tampa, Florida.
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Chloroplast Incorporation and Long-Term Photosynthetic Performance Through the Life Cycle in Laboratory Cultures of Elysia Timid
Chloroplast incorporation and long-term photosynthetic performance through the life cycle in laboratory cultures of Elysia timida (Sacoglossa, Heterobranchia) Schmitt et al. Schmitt et al. Frontiers in Zoology 2014, 11:5 http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/11/1/5 Schmitt et al. Frontiers in Zoology 2014, 11:5 http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/11/1/5 RESEARCH Open Access Chloroplast incorporation and long-term photosynthetic performance through the life cycle in laboratory cultures of Elysia timida (Sacoglossa, Heterobranchia) Valerie Schmitt1,2, Katharina Händeler2, Susanne Gunkel2, Marie-Line Escande3, Diedrik Menzel4, Sven B Gould2, William F Martin2 and Heike Wägele1* Abstract Introduction: The Mediterranean sacoglossan Elysia timida is one of the few sea slug species with the ability to sequester chloroplasts from its food algae and to subsequently store them in a functional state in the digestive gland cells for more than a month, during which time the plastids retain high photosynthetic activity (= long-term retention). Adult E. timida have been described to feed on the unicellular alga Acetabularia acetabulum in their natural environment. The suitability of E. timida as a laboratory model culture system including its food source was studied. Results: In contrast to the literature reporting that juvenile E. timida feed on Cladophora dalmatica first, and later on switch to the adult diet A. acetabulum, the juveniles in this study fed directly on A. acetabulum (young, non-calcified stalks); they did not feed on the various Cladophora spp. (collected from the sea or laboratory culture) offered. This could possibly hint to cryptic speciation with no clear morphological differences, but incipient ecological differentiation.
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Terpenoids in Marine Heterobranch Molluscs
marine drugs Review Terpenoids in Marine Heterobranch Molluscs Conxita Avila Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Sciences, and Biodiversity Research Institute (IrBIO), Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; [email protected] Received: 21 February 2020; Accepted: 11 March 2020; Published: 14 March 2020 Abstract: Heterobranch molluscs are rich in natural products. As other marine organisms, these gastropods are still quite unexplored, but they provide a stunning arsenal of compounds with interesting activities. Among their natural products, terpenoids are particularly abundant and diverse, including monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, diterpenoids, sesterterpenoids, triterpenoids, tetraterpenoids, and steroids. This review evaluates the diﬀerent kinds of terpenoids found in heterobranchs and reports on their bioactivity. It includes more than 330 metabolites isolated from ca. 70 species of heterobranchs. The monoterpenoids reported may be linear or monocyclic, while sesquiterpenoids may include linear, monocyclic, bicyclic, or tricyclic molecules. Diterpenoids in heterobranchs may include linear, monocyclic, bicyclic, tricyclic, or tetracyclic compounds. Sesterterpenoids, instead, are linear, bicyclic, or tetracyclic. Triterpenoids, tetraterpenoids, and steroids are not as abundant as the previously mentioned types. Within heterobranch molluscs, no terpenoids have been described in this period in tylodinoideans, cephalaspideans, or pteropods, and most terpenoids have been found in nudibranchs, anaspideans, and sacoglossans, with very few compounds in pleurobranchoideans and pulmonates. Monoterpenoids are present mostly in anaspidea, and less abundant in sacoglossa. Nudibranchs are especially rich in sesquiterpenes, which are also present in anaspidea, and in less numbers in sacoglossa and pulmonata. Diterpenoids are also very abundant in nudibranchs, present also in anaspidea, and scarce in pleurobranchoidea, sacoglossa, and pulmonata.
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Two New Sacoglossan Sea Slug Species (Opisthobranchia, Gastropoda): Ercolania Annelyleorum Sp
Zootaxa 2676: 1–28 (2010) ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2010 · Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Two new sacoglossan sea slug species (Opisthobranchia, Gastropoda): Ercolania annelyleorum sp. nov. (Limapontioidea) and Elysia asbecki sp. nov. (Plakobranchoidea), with notes on anatomy, histology and biology HEIKE WÄGELE1,4, KRISTINA STEMMER2, INGO BURGHARDT3 & KATHARINA HÄNDELER1 1Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, D-53113 Bonn, Germany 2Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar- and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany 3Department of Animal Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany 4Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Two new sacoglossan species, belonging to the genus Ercolania Trinchese, 1872 (Ercolania annelyleorum sp. nov.) and the genus Elysia Risso, 1818 (Elysia asbecki sp. nov.) are described from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Anatomy of both species was reconstructed by analyzing histological serial sections. Radula morphology was investigated by using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Sequence analyses (NeighborNet; sequence divergence) and tree reconstructions showed for both species their distinction from con-generic species, but also two distinct mitochondrial lines in the new Ercolania species. Adults as well as freshly hatched juveniles of E. annelyleorum sp. nov. have been found in clusters of the ulvophycean alga Boodlea sp., which are sucked out by piercing the cell walls with their radular teeth. This new species differs from other, similar transparent, Ercolania species by its pattern of the green branches of the digestive gland and the presence of two distinct red patches, one in the anterior and the other in the posterior third of the dorsal body part.
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Biogeography of the Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia)*
Bonner zoologische Beiträge Band 55 (2006) Heft 3/4 Seiten 255–281 Bonn, November 2007 Biogeography of the Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia)* Kathe R. JENSEN1) 1)Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark *Paper presented to the 2nd International Workshop on Opisthobranchia, ZFMK, Bonn, Germany, September 20th to 22nd, 2006 Abstract. The Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) comprise almost 400 nominal species level taxa. Of these 284 are considered valid (i.e., no published synonymies) in this study. About half of the nominal species have been descri- bed before 1950, and the 10 most productive taxonomists have described about half of the species. Distributions of all valid species are reviewed. The highest diversity is found in the islands of the Central Pacific, though species diversity is almost as high in the Indo-Malayan sub-province. The Caribbean forms another center of species diversity. These three areas are distinguished by the high number of Plakobranchoidea. Similarity among provinces is generally low. Endemi- city is high in most provinces, but this may be an artifact of collecting activity. The decrease in number of species with latitude is spectacular, and the number of cold-water endemics is very low, indicating that sacoglossans in cold tempe- rate regions are mostly eurythermic warm water/ tropical species. The highest number of species in cold temperate are- as is found in Japan and Southeastern Australia. This coincides with high species diversity of the algal genus Caulerpa, which constitutes the diet of all shelled and many non-shelled sacoglossans. Keywords. Species diversity, endemism. 1. INTRODUCTION Information on biogeography is important for understand- they have depth distributions restricted to the photic zone, ing speciation and phylogeny as well as for making deci- i.e.
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Identification Guide to the Heterobranch Sea Slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Bocas Del Toro, Panama Jessica A
Goodheart et al. Marine Biodiversity Records (2016) 9:56 DOI 10.1186/s41200-016-0048-z MARINE RECORD Open Access Identification guide to the heterobranch sea slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Bocas del Toro, Panama Jessica A. Goodheart1,2, Ryan A. Ellingson3, Xochitl G. Vital4, Hilton C. Galvão Filho5, Jennifer B. McCarthy6, Sabrina M. Medrano6, Vishal J. Bhave7, Kimberly García-Méndez8, Lina M. Jiménez9, Gina López10,11, Craig A. Hoover6, Jaymes D. Awbrey3, Jessika M. De Jesus3, William Gowacki12, Patrick J. Krug3 and Ángel Valdés6* Abstract Background: The Bocas del Toro Archipelago is located off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Until now, only 19 species of heterobranch sea slugs have been formally reported from this area; this number constitutes a fraction of total diversity in the Caribbean region. Results: Based on newly conducted fieldwork, we increase the number of recorded heterobranch sea slug species in Bocas del Toro to 82. Descriptive information for each species is provided, including taxonomic and/or ecological notes for most taxa. The collecting effort is also described and compared with that of other field expeditions in the Caribbean and the tropical Eastern Pacific. Conclusions: This increase in known diversity strongly suggests that the distribution of species within the Caribbean is still poorly known and species ranges may need to be modified as more surveys are conducted. Keywords: Heterobranchia, Nudibranchia, Cephalaspidea, Anaspidea, Sacoglossa, Pleurobranchomorpha Introduction studies. However, this research has often been hampered The Bocas del Toro Archipelago is located on the Carib- by a lack of accurate and updated identification/field bean coast of Panama, near the Costa Rican border.
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A Sea Slug's Guide to Plastid Symbiosis
Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae INVITED REVIEW Acta Soc Bot Pol 83(4):415–421 DOI: 10.5586/asbp.2014.042 Received: 2014-10-29 Accepted: 2014-11-26 Published electronically: 2014-12-31 A sea slug’s guide to plastid symbiosis Jan de Vries1, Cessa Rauch1, Gregor Christa1,2, Sven B. Gould1* 1 Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine-University, Düsseldorf 40225, Germany 2 CESAM, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal Abstract Some 140 years ago sea slugs that contained chlorophyll-pigmented granules similar to those of plants were described. While we now understand that these “green granules” are plastids the slugs sequester from siphonaceous algae upon which they feed, surprisingly little is really known about the molecular details that underlie this one of a kind animal-plastid symbiosis. Kleptoplasts are stored in the cytosol of epithelial cells that form the slug’s digestive tubules, and one would guess that the stolen organelles are acquired for their ability to fix carbon, but studies have never really been able to prove that. We also do not know how the organelles are distinguished from the remaining food particles the slugs incorporate with their meal and that include algal mitochondria and nuclei. We know that the ability to store kleptoplasts long-term has evolved only a few times independently among hundreds of sacoglossan species, but we have no idea on what basis. Here we take a closer look at the history of sacoglossan research and discuss recent developments. We argue that, in order to understand what makes this symbiosis work, we will need to focus on the animal’s physiology just as much as we need to commence a detailed analysis of the plastids’ photobiology.
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Identification of Photosynthetic Sacoglossan Species
112 Encocytobiosis Cell Res. (2009) 19, 112-119 Identification of photosynthetic sacoglossans from Japan Yoshiharu Y. Yamamoto1,2, Yoichi Yusa3, Shoko Yamamoto3, Yayoi Hirano4, Yoshiaki Hirano4, Taizo Motomura5, Takanori Tanemura1, Junichi Obokata1,6,* 1Center for Gene Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan; 2Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Yanagido 1-1, Gifu City, 501-1193, Japan; 3Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Nara Women’s University, Kitauoyanishi, Nara, Nara 630-8506, Japan; 4Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba, Chiba 263-8522, Japan; 5Muroran Marine Station, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Muroran 051-0003; 6Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto 606-8552, Japan. * Corresponding author: [email protected], [email protected] Abstract days to months, depending on species. This Some sacoglossan molluscs, including several incorporation and maintenance is called as species of Elysiidae, are known to incorporate kleptoplasty (TRENCH and OHLHORST 1976; algal chloroplasts, and the incorporated chlo- RUMPHO et al. 2007). roplasts are functional for days to months, After the first report of kleptoplasty by Elysia depending on species. This incorporation and astroviridis (KAWAGUTI and YAMASU 1965), maintenance of foreign chloroplasts are known several species have been shown to have as kleptoplasty. In this article, we surveyed kleptoplasts by transmission electron micro- photosynthetic activity of several sacoglos- scopic (TEM) analysis (TRENCH et al. 1969). sans collected in Japan, by analysis of in vivo Functionality of kleptoplasts was demon- chlorophyll fluorescence. Our survey found 8 strated by light-driven CO2-incorporation using new species that have active chlorophylls, radioisotope (14C) (HINDE and SMITH 1974), judged by the parameter Fv/Fm, an indicative light-dependent O2-emission detected by of the functionality of photosystem II.
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Solar-Powered Sea Slugs Defy Evolution and Horizontal Gene Transfer
PAPERS || JOURNAL OF CREATION 28(2) 2014 Solar-powered sea slugs defy evolution and horizontal gene transfer Jeffrey Tomkins Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has been proposed as the major explanation for the large number of genes shared among completely unrelated taxon that share no lineage-specific evolutionary trajectory in the schema of life. However, mechanisms to explain HGT between multicellular eukaryotic life are lacking. Initial reports of HGT in a defined biological relationship between the solar-powered sea slug E. chlorotica and its algal prey seemed to provide the key evidence for such a mechanism. However, new data from the germline sequencing of the slug’s genome via the use of eggs as a DNA source has shown that no algal DNA is present—definitively negating HGT inE. chlorotica. The explanation for the original data that seemed to support HGT is now believed to be that it is due to the presence of extra chromosomal circular DNAs (eccDNAs) excized from the algal genome. The nature of how these eccDNAs are formed and utilized in slug cells to help support the maintenance of its stolen algal chloroplasts remains to be deduced. This amazing phenomenon can only be explained within the context of a highly co-designed and biologically complex system inherent to the model of intelligent design. olar-powered sap-sucking sea slugs (sacoglossan light-harvesting functional chloroplasts after more than 20 Smolluscs) (figure 1) are amazing creatures that feed on days (up to a year in one species) inside the cells that line various types of algae, sucking out the contents of the large the slug’s digestive tract.
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Mollusca, Gastropoda) Gregor Christa1*, Katharina Händeler1, Till F Schäberle2, Gabriele M König2 and Heike Wägele1
Christa et al. Frontiers in Zoology 2014, 11:15 http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/11/1/15 RESEARCH Open Access Identification of sequestered chloroplasts in photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic sacoglossan sea slugs (Mollusca, Gastropoda) Gregor Christa1*, Katharina Händeler1, Till F Schäberle2, Gabriele M König2 and Heike Wägele1 Abstract Background: Sacoglossan sea slugs are well known for their unique ability among metazoans to incorporate functional chloroplasts (kleptoplasty) in digestive glandular cells, enabling the slugs to use these as energy source when starved for weeks and months. However, members assigned to the shelled Oxynoacea and Limapontioidea (often with dorsal processes) are in general not able to keep the incorporated chloroplasts functional. Since obviously no algal genes are present within three (out of six known) species with chloroplast retention of several months, other factors enabling functional kleptoplasty have to be considered. Certainly, the origin of the chloroplasts is important, however, food source of most of the about 300 described species is not known so far. Therefore, a deduction of specific algal food source as a factor to perform functional kleptoplasty was still missing. Results: We investigated the food sources of 26 sacoglossan species, freshly collected from the field, by applying the chloroplast marker genes tufA and rbcL and compared our results with literature data of species known for their retention capability. For the majority of the investigated species, especially for the genus Thuridilla, we were able to identify food sources for the first time. Furthermore, published data based on feeding observations were confirmed and enlarged by the molecular methods. We also found that certain chloroplasts are most likely essential for establishing functional kleptoplasty.
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CURRICULUM VITAE SIDNEY K. PIERCE I. Personal Data Born
CURRICULUM VITAE SIDNEY K. PIERCE I. Personal Data Born Holyoke, Massachusetts Married, two children II. Education Undergraduate: University of Miami, Bachelor of Education, 1966 Graduate: Florida State University, Doctor of Philosophy, 1970 III. Academic Activities A. Experience in Higher Education 1966-68 Teaching Assistant, Florida State University 1968-69 Research Assistant, Florida State University 1969 (summer) NIH Trainee, Marine Ecology Program, Marine Biological Lab., Woods Hole, Massachusetts 1969-70 Predoctoral Fellow, Florida State University (NIH) 1970-73 Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Maryland, College Park 1973-77 (summers) Instructor, Marine Biological Lab., Woods Hole, Massachusetts 1973-78 Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Maryland 1986-92 Affiliate Senior Staff Scientist, Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland 1987-89 Acting Associate Director, Agriculture Experiment Station, University of Maryland 1987-89 Program Director, Biological Instrumentation Program, National Science Foundation 1978-00 Professor, University of Maryland 1979-85, 90-97, 99-00 Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Zoology, University of Maryland 1990-97, 99-00 Associate Chairman, Department of Zoology, University of Maryland 1997-99 Acting Chairman, Department of Biology (formerly Zoology), University of Maryland 2000-2006 Professor and Chair, Department of Biology, University of South Florida 2000-2014 Professor, Department of Biology, University of South Florida 2000- Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, University of Maryland 2014- Professor Emeritus, Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida PIERCE-3 IV. Research, Teaching, Service A. Publications l. Full papers in refereed journals 1. Pierce, S. K. 1970. The water balance of Modiolus (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Mytilidae): osmotic concentrations in changing salinities.
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