kleptoplasty
Sign in to saveAlso known as kleptoplastidy
thumb |upright=1.2 |A digestive tubule cell of the sea slug Elysia clarki, packed with chloroplasts taken from green algae. C = [[chloroplast, N = cell nucleus. Electron micrograph: scale bar is 3 μm.]]
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, kleptoplasty is referenced by 57 other articles, and connects out to eukaryote, Dinoflagellata and Animalia.
It is catalogued under topics including Algae, Ecology terminology and Endosymbiotic events.
Its subject is documented across 21 Wikipedia language editions.
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
16 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Process
- Occurrence
- In protists
- Foraminifera
- Dinoflagellates
- Ciliates
- Euglenozoa
- Animals
- Rhabdocoel flatworms
- Sea slugs (gastropods)
- Sacoglossa
- Nudibranchia
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb |upright=1.2 |A digestive tubule cell of the sea slug Elysia clarki, packed with chloroplasts taken from green algae. C = [[chloroplast, N = cell nucleus. Electron micrograph: scale bar is 3 μm.]]
Kleptoplasty or kleptoplastidy is a process in symbiotic relationships whereby plastids, notably chloroplasts from algae, are sequestered by the host. The word is derived from Kleptes (κλέπτης) which is Greek for thief. The algae is eaten normally and partially digested, leaving the plastid intact. The plastids are maintained within the host, temporarily continuing photosynthesis and benefiting the host.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “kleptoplasty” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.