Professor Dr. Gregor Christa

Evolution and biodiversity

 

Research

The research group studies the evolution of mutualistic symbioses in the animal kingdom using two systems of marine nudibranchs that are unique in the animal kingdom: Sacoglossa and Nudibranchia.

Sacoglossa "steal" the chloroplasts of their food algae (mainly Ulvophyceae) and functionally store them in their own cells. This is called functional kleptoplasty.

Nudibranchs can obtain their symbiotic algae either from the water column (melibe) or by feeding on corals.

In both systems, little is known about the (molecular) evolution and the process of symbiosis at the cellular level. Current research focuses on the following topics

• Evolution and biodiversity of functional kleptoplasty in marine Sacoglossa nudibranchs
• Population genetics of various Sacoglossa species
• Photophysiology of Ulvophyceae (Chlorophyta)
• Comparative genomics of Nudibranchia and Sacoglossa

Publications