Prevalence and Photobiology of Photosynthetic Dinoflagellate Endosymbionts in the Nudibranch Berghia stephanieae.

ABSTRACT: Berghia stephanieae is a stenophagous sea slug that preys upon glass anemones, such as Exaiptasia diaphana. Glass anemones host photosynthetic dinoflagellate endosymbionts that sea slugs ingest when consuming E. diaphana. However, the prevalence of these photosynthetic dinoflagellate endosymbionts in sea slugs appears to be short-lived, particularly if B.stephanieae is deprived of prey that host these microalgae (e.g., during bleaching events impacting glass anemones). In the present study, we investigated this scenario, along with food deprivation, and validated the use of a non-invasive and non-destructive approach employing chlorophyll fluorescence as a proxy to monitor the persistence of the association between sea slugs and endosymbiotic photosynthetic dinoflagellates acquired through

SUBMITTER: Silva RXG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8388370 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature