Leaf-like sea slug feeds on light
A green sea slug found off North America's east coast not only looks like a leaf, but can also make food out of sunlight, just like a plant.
U.S. researchers have found that the sea slug
Elysia chlorotica can photosynthesize, using energy from light to convert carbon dioxide into sugars.
"If you shine light on these slugs, they fix carbon dioxide and make oxygen just like a plant," Sidney Pierce of the University of South Florida told CBC Radio's
Quirks & Quarks.
Surprising Sea Slug Is Half-plant, Half-animal
The sneaky slugs seem to have stolen the genes that enable this skill from algae that they've eaten. With their contraband genes, the slugs can carry out photosynthesis — the process plants use to convert sunlight into energy.
[...]
The sea slugs live in salt marshes in New England and Canada. In addition to burglarizing the genes needed to make the green pigment chlorophyll, the slugs also steal tiny cell parts called chloroplasts, which they use to conduct photosynthesis. The chloroplasts use the chlorophyl to convert sunlight into energy, just as plants do, eliminating the need to eat food to gain energy.
Elysia chlorotica - photosynthetic sea slug movie 1
Sources:
- CBC News - Technology & Science - Leaf-like sea slug feeds on light
- Surprising Sea Slug Is Half-plant, Half-animal | LiveScience
- | LiveScience.com
- YouTube - Elysia chlorotica - photosynthetic sea slug movie 1
- YouTube - Elysia chlorotica - photosynthetic sea slug movie 2
Related:
- USF :: Department of Integrative Biology
- The Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences (MBS) -- University of Maine
- Green sea slug makes chlorophyll like a plant
- Sea Slugs Generating Green Energy
- Green Sea Slug Is Part Animal, Part Plant | Wired Science | Wired.com
- Green sea slug is half animal, half plant
