Natural and Artificial Photosymbiosis in Vertebrates

Abstract

Photosymbiosis occurs in symbiotic relationships between heterotrophs and photosymbiotic organisms, where a photosynthetic symbiont provides photosynthate to a host. While almost all known host animals are invertebrates, experiments have determined that artificial symbiotic relationships can be established between vertebrates and phototrophs. The ability to generate photosymbiotic relationships in vertebrates has important applications for medical treatments and commercial resource production.

Nucleomorph: A Fascinating Remnant of Endosymbiosis

“…Algae originally emerged through evolutionary endosymbiosis; furthermore, some algae exist that emerged through a secondary endosymbiotic event. These organisms are interesting from both evolutionary and cell biological perspectives (Gentil et al 2017, Matsunaga et al 2018, Okabe and Matsunaga 2022. In this review, we discuss recent findings concerning organelles that provide direct evidence of secondary endosymbiosis, known as nucleomorphs.…”