Project description:The goal of this analysis was to identify the ribosomal RNA content of the mitochondrial risome of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii green alga
Project description:Past studies have shown that the photosynthetic apparatus of a psychrophilic alga C. sp. UWO241 is remodeled to support high rates of Photosystem I (PSI)-associated cyclic electron flow (CEF). Iron levels in ELB are in the nanomolar range; therefore, we hypothesized that PSI restructuring in C. sp. UWO241 may reflect a strategy to survive long-term Fe-deficiency. We studied the effect of Fe availability in C. sp. UWO241, a mesophile, C. reinhardtii, and a second ELB psychrophile, Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-MDV. Under Fe-deficient conditions (2 µM Fe), abundance of the PSI reaction center protein, PsaA, as well as levels of photooxidizable P700 (ΔA820/A820) were significantly reduced in both psychrophiles relative to C. reinhardtii. In response to increased Fe, C. sp. ICE-MDV exhibited increases in PSI 77K Chl a fluorescence and ΔA820/A820 which matched that of C. reinhardtii, while C. sp. UWO241 exhibited moderate restoration of PSI function. Our results indicate that PSI functional organization in C. sp. UWO241 is unique. The unique physiological traits in PSI photochemistry exhibited by the psychrophiles may reflect adaptation to the stratified physicochemical conditions present the shallow vs. deep photic zones of a chemically Antarctic lake.
Project description:Liquid cultures of the unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were grown in media with 6 uM Mn (control) or 1000 uM Mn (experimental), and analyzed by RNA-Seq to identify genes that are differentially expressed in response to excess Mn.
Project description:RNA populations in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Keywords: Highly parallel pyrosequencing Small RNAs were prepared from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii total extracts,ligated to a 3' adaptor and a 5' acceptor sequentially, and then RT-PCR amplified. PCR products were reamplified using a pair of 454 cloning primers and provided to 454 Life Sciences (Branford, CT) for sequencing. For technical details, see Tao Zhao, Guanglin Li, Shijun Mi, Shan Li, Gregory J. Hannon, Xiu-Jie Wang, and Yijun Qi. 2007. A Complex System of Small RNAs in the Unicellular Green Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Genes & Development
Project description:Two strains of the green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, were selected for high expression of transgenes. These strains, called UVM4 and UVM11, were found to both have unique mutations in the SRTA gene (Cre10.g462200). In this study, the basal transcriptome of these two strains was compared to that of their WT parental strain, Elow47, to identify what effects, if any, the srta mutation has on the transcriptome. Additionally, two SRTA complemented strains in a UVM11 background (UVM11-C1 and UVM11-C9) were included for comparison.
Project description:This model is described in the article:
A single light-responsive sizer can control multiple-fission cycles in Chlamydomonas
Frank S. Heldt, John J. Tyson, Frederick R. Cross, Bela Novak
Abstract:
Most eukaryotic cells execute binary division after each mass doubling, in order to maintain size homeostasis by coordinating cell growth and division. By contrast, the photosynthetic green alga Chlamydomonas can grow more than eight-fold during daytime before undergoing rapid cycles of DNA replication, mitosis and cell division at night, which produce up to 16 daughter cells. Here, we propose a mechanistic model for multiple-fission cycles and cell-size control in Chlamydomonas. The model comprises a light-sensitive and size-dependent biochemical toggle switch that acts as a sizer, guarding transitions into and exit from a phase of cell-division cycle oscillations. This simple 'sizer-oscillator' arrangement reproduces the experimentally observed features of multiple-fission cycles and the response of Chlamydomonas cells to different light-dark regimes. Our model also makes specific predictions about the size dependence of the time of onset of cell division after cells are transferred from light to dark conditions, and we confirm these predictions by single-cell experiments. Collectively, our results provide a new perspective on the concept of a 'commitment point' during the growth of Chlamydomonas cells and hint at intriguing similarities of cell-size control in different eukaryotic lineages.
Project description:Photosystem I (PSI) enables photo-electron transfer and regulates photosynthesis in the bioenergetic membranes of cyanobacteria and chloroplasts. Being a multi-subunit complex, its macromolecular organization affects the dynamics of photosynthetic membranes. Here we reveal a chloroplast PSI from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that is organized as a homodimer.
Project description:Different high temperatures adversely affect crop and algal yields with various responses in photosynthetic cells. The list of genes required for thermotolerance remains elusive. Additionally, it is unclear how carbon source availability affects heat responses in plants and algae. We utilized the insertional, indexed, genome-saturating mutant library of the unicellular, eukaryotic green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to perform genome-wide, quantitative, pooled screens under moderate (35oC) or acute (40oC) high temperatures with or without organic carbon sources. We identified heat-sensitive mutants based on quantitative growth rates and identified putative heat tolerance genes (HTGs). By triangulating HTGs with heat-induced transcripts or proteins in wildtype cultures and MapMan functional annotations, we present a high/medium-confidence list of 933 Chlamydomonas genes with putative roles in heat tolerance. Triangulated HTGs include those with known thermotolerance roles and novel genes with little or no functional annotation. About 50% of these high-confidence HTGs in Chlamydomonas have orthologs in green lineage organisms, including crop species. Arabidopsis thaliana mutants deficient in the ortholog of a high-confidence Chlamydomonas HTG were also heat sensitive. This work expands our knowledge of heat responses in photosynthetic cells and provides engineering targets to improve thermotolerance in algae and crops.
Project description:The green alga Volvox carteri is a model organism for the development of multicellularity. It has a spherical shape with a complete division of labor between around 2000 somatic cells and 16 reproductive cells. When comparing Volvox with its unicellular relative Chlamydomonas rheinhardtii, one striking observation is the similarity in the protein coding genes [1]. Additionally, Baulcombe and colleagues showed that Chlamydomonas contains functional RNAi and miRNA machineries [2]. We deep sequenced small RNAs associated with one Argonaute protein of the female Volvox strain Vol6 during its vegetative growth phase. Using these data, we established a miRNA identification pipeline that takes into account plant miRNA feature in general and also uses parameters employed in finding miRNAs in Chlamydomonas. Other small RNAs that are functionally incorporated into Ago are characterized. 1. Prochnik, S.E., et al., Genomic analysis of organismal complexity in the multicellular green alga Volvox carteri. Science, 2010. 329(5988): p. 223-6. 2. Molnar, A., et al., miRNAs control gene expression in the single-cell alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Nature, 2007. 447(7148): p. 1126-9.
Project description:Here, we report a transcriptomics analysis on a day in the life of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Cultures of this unicellular alga were grown in photobioreactors on a 12 h light / 12 h dark cycle. Samples were collected at regular intervals and subjected to a transcriptomics analysis by RNA-Seq.