Team:Bilkent UNAM Turkey/Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is in the Volvocales branch of Chlorophyta phylum. The family name of C. reinhardtii is
Chlamydomonadaceae. C. reinhardtii is green algae which has only 10 micrometers. It has two flagella to provide
motion. It can sense the light with the eyespot on the main body. This microorganism is commonly used as a model
organism in the biology field. Because of its haploidity (it has only 17 chrosomes), any mutations can be observed
easily and rapidly without further crosses. The usage area of this alga is focused on the biofuel
production.

When was the discovery of C. reinhardtii?

It has isolated in USA, Massachusetts in 1945 by Smith. After its discovery, C. reinhardtii cells enlighten many
questions about the motion mechanisms, sensing mechanisms of light, recognition mechanisms of the outer environment,
responses to nutritional changes, photosynthesis, etc. The complete nuclear genome sequence of
this organism was published in 2007.

How can I reach the genetic structure of this organism?

The ~15.8 Kb mitochondrial genome is available online at the NCBI database with the database accession number of NC_ 001638.
The complete >200 Kb chloroplast genome is available online. Seven cDNA libraries can be found in the web.
There are also two databases of >50 000 and >160 000 ESTs available online.*

References:

1. Aoyama, H., Kuroiwa, T. and Nakamura, S. 2009. The dynamic behaviour of mitochondria in living zygotes during maturation and meiosis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Eur. J. Phycol. 44: 497 - 507.
2. Jamers, A., Lenjou, M., Deraedt, P., van Bockstaele, D., Blust, R. and de Coen, W. 2009. Flow cytometric analysis of the cadmium-exposed green algae Chlamydomonas reinhadtii (Chlorophyceae). Eur. J. Phcol. 44: 54 - 550.
3. Oldenhof, H, Zachleder, V. and van den Ende, H. 2006. Blue- and red-light regulation of the cell cycle in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Chlorophyta). Eur. J. Phycol. 41: 313 – 320
4. Lagali PS, Balya D, Awatramani GB, Münch TA, Kim DS, Busskamp V, Cepko CL, Roska B (June 2008). "Light-activated channels targeted to ON bipolar cells restore visual function in retinal degeneration". Nature Neuroscience 11 (6): 667–75.
5. Laurent Cournac, Florence Musa, Laetitia Bernarda, Geneviève Guedeneya, Paulette Vignaisb and Gilles Peltie (2002).
"Limiting steps of hydrogen production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Synechocystis PCC 6803 as analysed by light-induced
gas exchange transients". International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 27 (11/12): 1229–1237.
*Taken directly by the wikipedia.