Dynamics analysis of the fluorescently labeled algal organelle incorporated in photosynthetic sea slug cell

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Sacoglossan sea slugs suck cytosol from macroalga and capture the chloroplast to perform photosynthesisin in the slug's cell . Although the mysterious phenomenon, termed as kleptoplasty, has been reported by a lot of sea slug researchers, the mechanism has remained largely unknown. In this study, to analyze the detail process of kleptoplasty, a live-imaging procedure monitoring the algal organelle incorporated in the slug cell was developed. At first, a macro alga, Bryopsis plumosa, was transformed with chimeric genes encoding GFP-fused proteins targeting chloroplast, nucleus and mitochondrion. And then, by feeding the transformed alga to a photosynthetic sea slug, Elysia ornata, fluorescent-labelled algal organelle in the slug body were successfully detected. The novel system will give new insights for the mechanism of the Kleptophlasty, and the technique transforming B. plumosa should be applicable to other seaweed research.