From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

Please see CC-1047 for more information on the ac211 mutants.


  • Locus:
  • AC211
  • Chromosome:
  • 1

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

Please see CC-1047 for more information on the ac211 mutants.


  • Locus:
  • AC211
  • Chromosome:
  • 1

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

This is an allele at the AC9 locus. The best-characterized allele at this locus is M18, CC-1051.


Girard J, Chua NH, Bennoun P, Schmidt G, Delosme M (1980) Studies on mutants deficient in the photosystem I reaction centers in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Curr Genet 2:215-221


  • Locus:
  • AC9
  • Chromosome:
  • 12

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

This is the best-characterized allele at the AC9 locus.


Girard J, Chua NH, Bennoun P, Schmidt G, Delosme M (1980) Studies on mutants deficient in the photosystem I reaction centers in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Curr Genet 2:215-221


  • Locus:
  • AC9
  • Chromosome:
  • 12

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

Mutants F24 and F28 are deficient in Photosystem I, and do not complement one another in diploids. The locus defined by these mutations has not yet been identified with a gene.


Girard J, Chua NH, Bennoun P, Schmidt G, Delosme M (1980) Studies on mutants deficient in the photosystem I reaction centers in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Curr Genet 2:215-221

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

The F31 mutant is deficient in Photosystem I. F30 is an allele at the same locus, but is not in our collection. The locus defined by these mutations has not yet been identified with a gene.


Girard J, Chua NH, Bennoun P, Schmidt G, Delosme M (1980) Studies on mutants deficient in the photosystem I reaction centers in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Curr Genet 2:215-221

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

This UV-induced mutant is deficient in Photosystem I. The exact genetic defect has not yet been determined.


Girard J, Chua NH, Bennoun P, Schmidt G, Delosme M (1980) Studies on mutants deficient in the photosystem I reaction centers in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Curr Genet 2:215-221

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

The F19 mutation was induced by treatment with 5-fluorouracil, and results in deficiency in Photosytem I.


Girard J, Chua NH, Bennoun P, Schmidt G, Delosme M (1980) Studies on mutants deficient in the photosystem I reaction centers in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Curr Genet 2:215-221

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

This mutation was induced with 5-fluorouracil. The mutant is deficient in Photosystem I.


Girard J, Chua NH, Bennoun P, Schmidt G, Delosme M (1980) Studies on mutants deficient in the photosystem I reaction centers in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Curr Genet 2:215-221

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

The ac212 mutants are deficient in the PS I reaction center and were assigned to complementation group 13 by Girard et al. (1980). The AC212 locus is linked to mating type (9:0:1, Bennoun, confirmed by crosses at the Chlamydomonas Genetics Center).


Girard J, Chua NH, Bennoun P, Schmidt G, Delosme M (1980) Studies on mutants deficient in the photosystem I reaction centers in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Curr Genet 2:215-221


  • Locus:
  • AC212
  • Chromosome:
  • 6

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, June 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate

Please see CC-1062 for additional information on the ac212 mutants.


  • Locus:
  • AC212
  • Chromosome:
  • 6

From Mike Adams in Boynton-Gillham laboratory, Duke University

Phenotype: requires arginine; antibiotic resistant (kanamycin or neamine)

From a cross of CC-86 nr-u-2-1 mt+ x CC-49 arg2 mt-.

This strain couples a good arg2 marker with an easily scored chloroplast antibiotic resistance marker, and can be used as a recipient for transformation with the ARG7 gene. CC-1068 is the same combination in mt-.


  • Locus:
  • ARG7, rrnS
  • Chromosome:
  • 1,chloroplast

From Mike Adams in Boynton-Gillham laboratory, Duke University

Phenotype: requires arginine; antibiotic resistant (kanamycin or neamine)

From a cross of CC-86 nr-u-2-1 mt+ x CC-49 arg2 mt-.

This strain couples a good arg2 marker with an easily scored chloroplast antibiotic resistance marker, and can be used as a recipient for transformation with the ARG7 gene. CC-1067 is the same combination in mt+.


  • Locus:
  • ARG7, rrnS
  • Chromosome:
  • 1,chloroplast

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate, nicotinamide and thiamine

From CC-1000 ac12 thi9 mt+ [no longer in the collection] x CC-11 nic2 mt-

This strain combines three markers on linkage group II. A backcross to wild type CC-124 confirmed that all three mutations were present, and gave the expected map order thi — ac — nic.


  • Locus:
  • AC12, NIC2 [QPT1], THI9
  • Chromosome:
  • 2

From Richard Starr, University of Texas, July 1980

This is an isolate originally from G.M. Smith, which was given to the UTEX collection by Provasoli, but not listed in their catalogue. Richard Starr sent it to us in 1980. This strain grows on nitrate. Chloroplast DNA digested with Bam HI shows slightly smaller fragments Bam 9 and 10 in the inverted repeat region compared to CC-125 wild type, but otherwise it appears to be representative of the standard laboratory strains from the 1945 sample.

From Richard Starr, University of Texas, July 1980

This is an isolate originally from G.M. Smith, which was given to the UTEX collection by Provasoli, but not listed in their catalogue. Richard Starr sent it to us in 1980. This strain grows on nitrate. Chloroplast DNA digested with Bam HI is indistinguishable from that of CC-125 wild type.

From Richard Starr, University of Texas, July 1980

This is an isolate originally from G.M. Smith, which was given to the UTEX collection by Provasoli, but not listed in their catalogue. Richard Starr sent it to us in 1980. This strain grows on nitrate. Chloroplast DNA digested with Bam HI is indistinguishable from that of CC-125 wild type.

From Richard Starr, University of Texas, July 1980

This is an isolate originally from Ralph Lewin and subsequently in the collection of G.M. Smith. It was given to the UTEX collection by Provasoli, but not listed in their catalogue. Richard Starr sent it to us in 1980. This strain grows on nitrate. Chloroplast DNA digested with Bam HI shows slightly smaller fragments Bam 9 and 10 in inverted repeat region compared to CC-125 wild type. See CC-1080, which also shows this property.

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1980

Phenotype: requires acetate; antibiotic resistant (neamine)

This strain was derived from a cross of CC-521 ac9 x CC-146 nr1. A subsequent cross to CC-124 verified that this strain gave a clean 2:2 segregation for acetate requirement.


  • Locus:
  • AC9, NR1
  • Chromosome:
  • 8,12

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1980

From a cross of CC-1039 wild type nit+ mt+ [Sager’s 21 gr, stock subsequently replaced by CC-1690] x CC-1064 nit1 msr1 ac17 sr-u-sm2 mt- [a stock no longer in the collection].

This is the nit1-137 allele, which arose spontaneously in the 137c wild type background, and renders cells deficient in nitrate reductase, requiring a reduced nitrogen source (e.g. ammonium) for growth. Most 137c strains also carry the nit2-137 mutation, but CC-1085 has the wild type allele at the NIT2 locus.

This mutant is rescued by pMN24.


Fernández E and Matagne RF (1984) Genetic analysis of nitrate reductase-deficient mutants in Chlamydomonas reinhardii. Curr Genet 8:635-640

Fernández E and Matagne RF (1986) In vivo complementation analysis of nitrate reductase-deficient mutants in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Curr Genet 10:397-403


  • Locus:
  • NIT1
  • Chromosome:
  • 9

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1980

From a cross of CC-1039 wild type nit+ mt+ [Sager’s 21 gr, stock subsequently replaced by CC-1690] x CC-1065 nit2 sr-u-sm2 mt-

Whereas most strains in the 137c background have both the nit1-137 and nit2-137 mutations, his strain provides the nit2-137 allele by itself..


Sosa FM, Ortega T, Barea JL (1978) Mutants from Chlamydomonas reinhardii affected in their nitrate assimilation capability. Plant Sci Lett 11:51–58

Fernández E and Cárdenas J (1982) Regulation of the nitrate-reducing system enzymes in wild-type and mutant strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardii. Mol Gen Genet 186:164-169

Fernández E and Matagne RF (1984) Genetic analysis of nitrate reductase-deficient mutants in Chlamydomonas reinhardii. Curr Genet 8:635-640

Schnell RA, Lefebvre PA (1993) Isolation of the Chlamydomonas regulatory gene NIT2 by transposon tagging. Genetics 134:737-747


  • Locus:
  • NIT2
  • Chromosome:
  • 3

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1980

Phenotype: requires thiamine; antibiotic resistant (neamine, spectinomycin)

From a cross of CC-207 nr1-5 spr-u-1-6-2 mt+ x CC-23 thi1 mt-

This strain couples the nr1 and thi1 markers on linkage group VIII.


  • Locus:
  • NR1, THI1, rrnS
  • Chromosome:
  • 8,chloroplast

From Orio Ciferri, University of Pavia, Italy, August 1980

Phenotype: antibiotic resistant (fusidic acid)

This mutant is resistant to fusidic acid, a unique phenotype to date among C. reinhardtii mutants. It is easily scored and is a good marker for the distal left arm of linkage group II. Based on its phenotype and mapped position on linkage group 2, we think it is very likely a mutation in the gene encoding the chloroplast elongation factor EF-G.


Carbonera D, Sora S, Riccardi G, Camerino G, Ciferri O (1981) Characterization of a mutant of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii resistant to fusidic acid. FEBS Lett 132:227-230


  • Locus:
  • FSR1
  • Chromosome:
  • 2

From the University of Texas Algal Collection (UTEX), October 1980

This was described by UTEX as Sager’s basic wild-type strain, and is therefore probably equivalent to CC-1690 wild type mt+ [21 gr], the strain we normally send out. It can grow on nitrate.

From the University of Texas Algal Collection (UTEX), October 1980

Like CC-1092, this was described by UTEX as “Sager’s basic wild-type strain”, but we found that it does not grow on nitrate, suggesting that it is actually from the Levine (137c) background.

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University October 1980, derivative of CC-1090

Phenotype: antibiotic resistant (fusidic acid)

From a cross of CC-1090 fsr1 mt+ x CC-124 wild type, fall 1980. Please see CC-1090 for more information on this mutant.


  • Locus:
  • FSR1
  • Chromosome:
  • 2

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1980

Phenotype: requires arginine

This strain was derived as follows:
CC-125 wild type mt+ was crossed to CC-10, the original arg4 stock in our collection. This cross gave many incomplete tetrads. An arginine-requiring product was then back-crossed to CC-125, and two products selected that became CC-1097 arg4 mt- and CC-1098 arg4 mt+. However, in a subsequent test cross to CC-1084 ac9, the expected linkage was not observed, and we are therefore concerned that this isn’t really arg4. For better arg4 strains, and more on the ARG4 locus, please see CC-1997.

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University 1980

Phenotype: requires arginine

This strain was derived as follows:
CC-125 wild type mt+ was crossed to CC-10, the original arg4 stock in our collection. This cross gave many incomplete tetrads. An arginine-requiring product was then back-crossed to CC-125, and two products selected that became CC-1097 arg4 mt- and CC-1098 arg4 mt+. However, in a subsequent test cross to CC-1084 ac9, the expected linkage was not observed, and we are therefore concerned that this isn’t really arg4. For better arg4 strains, please see CC-1997 through CC-1999.

From Laurens Mets, Case Western Reserve University, January 1981

Phenotype: requires nicotinamide (suppressed)

This strain is not scorable on minimal medium or 3-acetylpyridine, but has been retained in the collection for historical reasons. Please see CC-12 for more information on the nic5 mutation.

From Laurens Mets, Case Western Reserve University, January 1981

Phenotype: abnormal eyespot, altered phototaxis

This is one of the oldest Chlamydomonas mutants, described by Hartshorne in 1955. It lacks eyespots and is easy to score microscopically for absence of the bright orange eyespot color. Dieckmann reported that the phenotype is expressed when cells are growing logarithmically, but as they reach stationary phase, eyespots are formed.


Hartshorne JN (1955) Multiple mutation in Chlamydomonas reinhardi. Heredity 9:239-248

Morel-Laurens NML, Bird DJ (1984) Effects of cell division on the stigma of wild-type and an “eyeless” mutant of Chlamydomonas. J Ultrastruct Res 87:46-61

Smyth RD, Martinek GW, Ebersold WT (1975) Linkage of six genes in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the construction of linkage test strains. J Bacteriol 124:1615-1617

Dieckmann CL (2003) Eyespot placement and assembly in the green alga Chlamydomonas. Bioessays 25:410-416


  • Locus:
  • EYE1
  • Chromosome:
  • 10