The genome sequencing of Plakobranchus ocellatus (Sacoglossa, Mollusca). Plakobranchus ocellatus

Several sea-slug species sequester chloroplasts in cells of the digestive diverticula from its food algae. The sequestered chloroplast keeps the photosynthetic activity in the sea-slug cell for several months and provides saccharides and amino-acids for the sea-slug. Because the food algal chloroplast DNA lacks several genes for photosynthesis, it is mysterious how the kleptoplast keeps the photosynthetic reactions for over several months in the sea-slug cell. In this study, we sequenced the complete genomic DNA of a sea-slug species, Plakobranchus ocellatus, to find the horizontally transferred photosynthetic genes from the algal nucleus to the sea-slug nucleus.