Photoprotection in sequestered plastids of sea slugs and respective algal sources

Some sea slugs are capable of retaining functional sequestered chloroplasts (kleptoplasts) for variable periods of time. The mechanisms supporting the maintenance of these organelles in animal hosts are still largely unknown. Non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and the occurrence of a xanthophyll cycle were investigated in the sea slugs Elysia viridis and E. chlorotica using chlorophyll fluorescence measurements and pigment analysis. The photoprotective capacity of kleptoplasts was compared to that observed in their respective algal source, Codium tomentosum and Vaucheria litorea. A functional xanthophyll cycle and a rapidly reversible NPQ component were found in V. litorea and E. chlorotica but not in C. tomentosum and E. viridis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the absence of a functional xanthophyll cycle in a green macroalgae. The absence of a functional xanthophyll cycle in C. tomentosum could contribute to the premature loss of photosynthetic activity and relatively short-term retention of kleptoplasts in E. viridis. On the contrary, E. chlorotica displays one of the longest functional examples of kleptoplasty known so far. We speculate that different efficiencies of photoprotection and repair mechanisms of algal food sources play a role in the longevity of photosynthetic activity in kleptoplasts retained by sea slugs

Effects of light exposure on the retention of kleptoplastic photosynthetic activity in the sacoglossan mollusc Elysia viridis

The effects of light exposure on the photosynthetic activity of kleptoplasts were studied in the sacoglossan mollusc Elysia viridis. The photosynthetic activity of ingested chloroplasts was assessed in vivo by non-destructively measuring photophysiological parameters using pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry. Animals kept under starvation were exposed to two contrasting light conditions, 30 μmol photons m−2 s−1 (low light, LL), and 140 μmol photons m−2 s−1 (high light, HL), and changes in photosynthetic activity were monitored by measuring the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII), F v/F m, the minimum fluorescence, F o, related to chlorophyll a content, and by measuring rapid light-response curves (RLC) of relative electron transport rate (rETR). RLCs were characterised by the initial slope of the curve, αRLC, related to efficiency of light capture, and the maximum rETR level, rETRm,RLC, determined by the carbon-fixation metabolism. Starvation induced the decrease of all photophysiological parameters. However, the retention of photosynthetic activity (number of days for F v/F m > 0), as well as the rate and the patterns of its decrease over time, varied markedly with light exposure. Under HL conditions, a rapid, exponential decrease was observed for F v/F m, αRLC and rETRm,RLC, F o not showing any consistent trend of variation, and retention times ranged between 6 and 15 days. These results suggested that the retention of chloroplast functionality is limited by photoinactivation of PSII reaction center protein D1. In contrast, under LL conditions, a slower decrease in all parameters was found, with retention times varying from 15 to 57 days. F v/F m, αRLC and rETRm,RLC exhibited a bi-phasic pattern composed by a long phase of slow decrease in values followed by a rapid decline, whilst F o decayed exponentially. These results were interpreted as resulting from lower rates of D1 photoinactivation under low light and from the gradual decrease in carbon provided by photosynthesis due to reduction of functional photosynthetic units