Active Host Response to Algal Symbionts in the Sea Slug Elysia chlorotica

Sacoglossan sea slugs offer fascinating systems to study the onset and persistence of algal-plastid symbioses. Elysia chlorotica is particularly noteworthy because it can survive for months, relying solely on energy produced by ingested plastids of the stramenopile alga Vaucheria litorea that are sequestered in cells lining its digestive diverticula. How this animal can maintain the actively photosynthesizing organelles without replenishment of...