Earth:Photosymbiosis

Short description: A type of symbiotic relationship where one organism is capable of photosynthesis

Photosymbiosis is a type of symbiosis where one of the organisms is capable of photosynthesis.

Examples of photosymbiosis

Lichen Variospora thallincola growing on rock

A ciliate, Paramecium bursaria, with green zoochlorellae living inside it endosymbiotically

Mussa angulosa coral

Southern giant clam Tridacna derasa

Upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana

Examples of photosymbiotic relationships include those in lichens, plankton, ciliates, and many marine organisms including corals, fire corals, giant clams, and jellyfish.

Photosymbiosis is important in the development, maintenance, and evolution of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, for example in biological soil crusts, soil formation, supporting highly diverse microbial populations in soil and water, and coral reef growth and maintenance.

Plagiomnium affine moss cells with visible chloroplasts—a type of plastid.

When one organism lives within another symbiotically it’s called endosymbiosis. Photosymbiotic relationships where microalgae and/or cyanobacteria live within a heterotrophic host organism, are believed to have led to eukaryotes acquiring photosynthesis and to the evolution of plants.