Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1997 12:17:36 From: SCHLAUER@chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg709$foo@default> Subject: Re: Carniverous sponges
Dear Nigel, Andrew, et al.,
> Nigel, I think you are correct about animals with chlorophyll.
No. You are not entirely correct, I'm afraid. The chlorophyllaceous
hydrae or whatsoever do not perform photosynthesis themselves but
they live in a symbiotic community with algae or cyanobacteria, like
lichens which are symbioses between fungi and algae s.lat..
> Basically most animals like ourselves, in the long distant past formed, a
> symbiotic relationship with organism, called mitochondria, entering our
> selves, and carrying out respiration.
Right.
> Some "animals" may have formed the
> same symbiotic relationship with whatever organism plants did, bringing
> chloraphyll into there cells.
Wrong. They did not incorporate chloroplasts into their cells but
they live together with taxonomically distinct other organisms which
in turn have chloroplasts (or equivalents thereof).
There is essentially no animal with *own* (intracellular)
chlorophyll and photosynthesis. Protists may be somewhat in between,
but they are not ususally regarded as animals, anyway.
> I also beleive, some aquatic animals -
> possible some gellyfish, have algae living within there structure, carrying
> out photosynthesis and supplying some energy to the animal in exchange
> presumably for protection etc.
This is approximately true.
> This is very different to the relationship
> between animals and gut flora or dare I say it carniverous plants (see this
> has got something to do with cp, however remote, as these bacteria, are not
> internal - the whole digestive tract, from mouth to colon is infact
> external.
No, it is not very different from the symbioses you mentioned
because the symbiotic algae can be regarded as external as well
(even if they are in fact embedded into the tissues of their "hosts").
They are in any event different organisms distinctly separated on
a cellular basis from the respective animals. The relationship is in
no case as intimate as in mitochondria and their surrounding cell.
Kind regards
Jan
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