UMaine researchers are using the symbiotic
relationship between sea slugs and a type of algae to improve our
understanding of photosynthesis. During this past year, an
undergraduate student working with UMaine scientists in the lab
succeeded for the first time in rearing sea slugs from eggs and
establishing the symbiotic association in the laboratory. The
ability to culture sea slugs in the lab will help to preserve and
protect a natural species and their native environment. The
availability of lab-reared animals will provide a source of a
previously rare living organism for the marine aquarium trade, for
academic teaching at all levels, for biomedical and pharmaceutical
research, and as a model research organism for a number of
scientific disciplines.
Maine Agricultural &
Forest Experiment Station
5782 Winslow Hall, The University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469-5782
207-581-3202
email:
maes2@maine.edu
UMaine researchers are using the symbiotic
relationship between sea slugs and a type of algae to improve our
understanding of photosynthesis. During this past year, an
undergraduate student working with UMaine scientists in the lab
succeeded for the first time in rearing sea slugs from eggs and
establishing the symbiotic association in the laboratory. The
ability to culture sea slugs in the lab will help to preserve and
protect a natural species and their native environment. The
availability of lab-reared animals will provide a source of a
previously rare living organism for the marine aquarium trade, for
academic teaching at all levels, for biomedical and pharmaceutical
research, and as a model research organism for a number of
scientific disciplines.