WEBVTT - How Can a Sea Slug Use Solar Power?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren bog Obam Here. Slugs are cool, really. These diverse

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<v Speaker 1>members of the class gastropoduct can boast all kinds of

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<v Speaker 1>superpowers depending on their species, from safely dropping their tails

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<v Speaker 1>when attacked to creating slimes strong enough to dangle from.

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<v Speaker 1>But a green sea slug that floats around in the

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<v Speaker 1>intertidal zone along the northeast coast of America has wowed

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<v Speaker 1>scientists with this ability. It can suck out an algae's

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<v Speaker 1>parts that generate energy from sunlight and incorporate those parts

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<v Speaker 1>into its own biology. In doing so, it becomes an

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<v Speaker 1>animal with the photosynthetic ability of a plant. But we

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<v Speaker 1>spoke with Debussies Bacharia, a biochemist and microbiologist at Rutgers University,

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<v Speaker 1>New Brunswick and senior author of a paper appearing in

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<v Speaker 1>Molecular Biology and Evolution about the sea slug. These slugs

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<v Speaker 1>look like wide blaant green leaves with snail like heads.

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<v Speaker 1>They're found in the shallow inlets and salt marshes along

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<v Speaker 1>the Atlantic coast of North America from Florida to Nova Scotia,

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<v Speaker 1>and they have a life span of eight to ten months.

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<v Speaker 1>But Charia said this slug is really unique. It steals

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<v Speaker 1>the algae's plastids and then directs them without the help

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<v Speaker 1>of the algile nucleus. Other animals, including some corals and salamanders,

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<v Speaker 1>are known to incorporate algae to benefit from the algae's

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<v Speaker 1>ability to photosynthesize. What makes this slug unique is it

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<v Speaker 1>takes only the plastids or the very organelles that contain

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<v Speaker 1>chlorophyll and performed photosynthesis. The slug then uses its own

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<v Speaker 1>genome to keep the plastids operating within its own body

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<v Speaker 1>throughout the rest of its life. Figuring out how the

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<v Speaker 1>slug keeps these algae made solar panels functioning could lead

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<v Speaker 1>to innovations and developing green machines that need only sunlight

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<v Speaker 1>to generate energy, or bioproducts that could be used as biodiesel.

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<v Speaker 1>As a juvenile, one of these slugs will suck in

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<v Speaker 1>a particular species of brown algae. The structure of this

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<v Speaker 1>brown algae lends itself to efficient sucking since it has

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<v Speaker 1>no walls between the cells in its body. The slug

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<v Speaker 1>then digests the algae's nuclei, but stows the algae's plastids

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<v Speaker 1>in the lining of its gut. But once the slug

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<v Speaker 1>has thus ingested the algae's solar panels, it survives off

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<v Speaker 1>a photosynthesis for the remaining six to eight months of

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<v Speaker 1>its life. But a Charia said, the only reason the

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<v Speaker 1>plastid stop working is the c slug completes its life

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<v Speaker 1>cycle and dies. That suggests that the plastids could be

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<v Speaker 1>kept functioning for a long time. If this slug's ability

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<v Speaker 1>could be engineered, you could build a green machine that

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<v Speaker 1>runs indefinitely. Today's episode was written by Amanda Onion and

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler clayg. Brain Stuff is production of I

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other long functioning topics, visit our home planet

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