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- Title
Kleptoplasty: Getting away with stolen chloroplasts.
- Authors
Cruz, Sónia; Cartaxana, Paulo
- Abstract
Kleptoplasty, the process by which a host organism sequesters and retains algal chloroplasts, is relatively common in protists. The origin of the plastid varies, as do the length of time it is retained in the host and the functionality of the association. In metazoa, the capacity for long-term (several weeks to months) maintenance of photosynthetically active chloroplasts is a unique characteristic of a handful of sacoglossan sea slugs. This capability has earned these slugs the epithets "crawling leaves" and "solar-powered sea slugs." This Unsolved Mystery explores the basis of chloroplast maintenance and function and attempts to clarify contradictory results in the published literature. We address some of the mysteries of this remarkable association. Why are functional chloroplasts retained? And how is the function of stolen chloroplasts maintained without the support of the algal nucleus? Why do some animals steal chloroplasts from their food? And how is the function of stolen chloroplasts (known as kleptoplasts) maintained? This Unsolved Mystery explores the basis of kleptoplast maintenance and function and attempts to clarify contradictory results about kleptoplasty in the published literature.
- Subjects
PROTISTA; METAZOA
- Publication
PLoS Biology, 2022, Vol 20, Issue 11, p1
- ISSN
1544-9173
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pbio.3001857