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Laboratory culturing of Elysia chlorotica reveals a shift from transient to permanent kleptoplasty

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Abstract

The kleptoplastic sacoglossan Elysia chlorotica shares a requisite, intracellular symbiosis with the plastids (= chloroplasts) of the Xanthophyte alga Vaucheria litorea. Although wild specimens have been used to address a range of biological questions, no studies have thoroughly characterized animal development during the initial establishment of the symbiosis under controlled laboratory conditions. Laboratory culture conditions were modified and the time required for successful metamorphosis was reduced by 40 % relative to previous work. Plastids were not initially stable within the host; “permanent kleptoplasty” was obtained only after ≥7 days of feeding on V. litorea. Feeding for shorter time periods resulted in the loss of plastids and abnormal development; this phase was characterized as “transient kleptoplasty”. Individuals in the transient state exhibited a significantly greater decrease in length compared to animals with permanent kleptoplasts after the same starvation period. To test the effect of food availability after obtaining permanent kleptoplasty, animals were subjected to various dietary regimes followed by a recovery period of constant feeding. Thirty percent of animals survived prolonged starvation (>4 weeks) after only the initial week of feeding required to establish permanent kleptoplasty. All treatments showed rapid growth when re-exposed to Vaucheria. Thus, during initial development E. chlorotica experiences enhanced fitness when Vaucheria is available for consumption. However, the animal rapidly establishes permanent kleptoplasty, which bestows flexible food requirements and resistance to food limitation, a likely advantage for E. chlorotica in salt marsh environments where Vaucheria sp. abundance is sporadic.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Geoffry Davis who aided in the E. chlorotica culture, Kathryn Dutil who maintained the V. litorea cultures, and Søren Hanson who provided the I. galbana cultures. We would also like to thank the reviewers of this paper for providing constructive suggestions. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (grant IOS-0726178 to M.E.R.). This is Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station Publication Number 3297, Hatch Project no. ME08361-08MRF (NC 1168).

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Author notes

  1. Karen N. Pelletreau & Mary E. Rumpho

    Present address: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA

  2. Jared M. Worful

    Present address: ImmunoGen, Inc., Waltham, MA, 02451, USA

  3. Kara E. Sarver

    Present address: USDA-ARS; Horticultural Crops Research, Corvallis, OR, 97330, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04401, USA

    Karen N. Pelletreau, Jared M. Worful, Kara E. Sarver & Mary E. Rumpho

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  1. Karen N. Pelletreau
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Correspondence to Karen N. Pelletreau.

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Pelletreau, K.N., Worful, J.M., Sarver, K.E. et al. Laboratory culturing of Elysia chlorotica reveals a shift from transient to permanent kleptoplasty. Symbiosis 58, 221–232 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-012-0192-0

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