Re: [DIYbio] Symbiotic Sea Slugs: meeting Saturday the 19th

Evolution is constantly in motion. If they have a purely predator/prey relationship, the algae may well have evolved many defenses over the ages, only for the slug to adapt to them again.

Matthias Bock <matthias.bock@hu-berlin.de> wrote:

>I see. Wonders me a bit. I could imagine,
>if it would only be disadvantegous for the algae,
>they would over the generations try to
>poison the slug in order to avoid being eaten.
>Therefore I would expect some kind of "payment".
>Even if it's "only" the spread of the for itself
>immobile algae across some distances.
>But if they are only digested, it's
>not a symbiosis (in the sense of mutualism).
>
>- Matthias
>
>
>Am Freitag, den 11.05.2012, 21:09 -0400 schrieb Avery louie:
>> Ah. The algae gets...eaten.
>>
>> lots of info here.
>>
>> the short version is that at birth, the slugs eat some of this aglae
>> and suck out the soft center out of the filamentous algae, and
>somehow
>> separate the chloroplasts from the rest of the cell. Then they
>> integrate the chloroplasts into their gut lining and the chloroplasts
>> do their thing and make food.
>>
>> Normally, the chloroplasts would die shortly thereafter because the
>> chloroplasts lack the proteins needed for complete chloroplast
>upkeep,
>> but the slugs have somehow acquired the genes needed to make those
>> proteins, so they an actually maintain the chloroplasts.
>>
>> --A
>
>
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