Horizontal gene transfer is accepted as an important evolutionary force modulating the
evolution of prokaryote genomes. However, it is thought that horizontal gene transfer plays …

Phosphorus (P) is the proximate (immediate) limiting element for primary productivity in
some habitats, and is generally the ultimate limiting element for primary productivity …

INTRODUCTION Chemical defense strategies, in which organisms use toxic molecules for
protection against pathogens or predators, are widespread in the marine environment. In …

Complex polyketides are typically associated with microbial metabolism. Here, we report
that animals also make complex, microbe-like polyketides. We show there is a widespread …

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 sea slug Elysia chlorotica offers a unique opportunity to study the evolution of a novel
function (photosynthesis) in a complex multicellular host. Elysia chlorotica harvests plastids …

Earth is populated by an extraordinary diversity of photosynthetic eukaryotes. Many
eukaryotic lineages contain chloroplasts, obtained through the endosymbiosis of a wide …

DNA barcoding can highlight taxa in which conventional taxonomy underestimates species
richness, identifying mitochondrial lineages that may correspond to unrecognized species …

Elysia chlorotica, a sacoglossan sea slug found off the East Coast of the United States, is
well-known for its ability to sequester chloroplasts from its algal prey and survive by …

Sacoglossa is a rather small taxon of marine slugs with about 300 described species, yet it is
quite fascinating scientists for decades. This is mainly because of the ability of certain …