Elysia crispata genome assembly and gene expression

Elysia crispata, like other sea slugs in the superorder Saccoglossa, has the remarkable ability to sequester chloroplasts from the algae they eat. In slug digestive cells, phagocytosed algal material is selectively degraded, leaving only stolen chloroplasts (called kleptoplasts) intact, which provide the slugs with energy and photosynthate. The goal of the project is to sequence and assemble the genome of E. crispata and to evaluate gene expression during slug development.