Strains

From American Type Culture Collection, 1981

Phenotype: inhibitor resistant (colchicine)

This is ATCC strain 30553 = colchicine resistant strain colr-2

This strain was designated colchr-2 by Flavin and Slaughter. The designation was later shortened to col-2. No genetics studies were done on the Flavin and Slaughter isolates, and their relationship to other colchicine-resistant mutants has not been determined.

Flavin M, Slaughter C (1974) Microtubule assembly and function in Chlamydomonas: inhibition of growth and flagellar regeneration by antitubulins and other drugs and isolation of resistant mutants. J Bacteriol 118:59-69

From American Type Culture Collection, 1981

Phenotype: inhibitor resistant (colchicine)

This is ATCC strain 30554 = colchicine resistant strain colr-3

This strain was designated colchr-3 by Flavin and Slaughter. The designation was later shortened to col-3. No genetics studies were done on the Flavin and Slaughter isolates, and their relationship to other colchicine-resistant mutants has not been determined.

Flavin M, Slaughter C (1974) Microtubule assembly and function in Chlamydomonas: inhibition of growth and flagellar regeneration by antitubulins and other drugs and isolation of resistant mutants. J Bacteriol 118:59-69

Elizabeth Harris, Boynton-Gillham laboratory, Duke University, 1981

Phenotype: cold sensitive on minimal medium

This was derived from a cross of CC-502 to wild type.

Boynton-Gillham laboratory, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: requires acetate

From a cross of CC-1182 FUD15 mt+ x CC-124 wild type mt-

• Locus:
• atpB
• Chromosome:
• chloroplast

Boynton-Gillham laboratory, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: requires acetate

From CC-1185 FUD50 mt+ x CC-124 wild type, product 2.5.1

• Locus:
• atpB
• Chromosome:
• chloroplast

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, January 1982

Phenotype: requires acetate

This mutant was isolated by Bennoun et al. after metronidazole treatment. Lemaire and Wollman reported a specific deficiency in synthesis of the epsilon subunit of ATP synthase, and Robertson et al. showed that the mutation is a frameshift in the atpE gene

[Please note that while this paper is correct on the FUD17 mutation, the report that rps7 was a split gene was erroneous.]

Bennoun P, Masson A, Delosme M (1980) A method for complementation analysis of nuclear and chloroplast mutants of photosynthesis in chlamydomonas. Genetics 95:39-47

Lemaire C, Wollman FA (1989) The chloroplast ATP synthase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. II. Biochemical studies on its biogenesis using mutants defective in photophosphorylation. J Biol Chem 264:10235-10242

Robertson D, Boynton JE, Gillham NW (1990) Cotranscription of the wild-type chloroplast atpE gene encoding the CF1/CF0 epsilon subunit with the 3' half of the rps7 gene in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and characterization of frameshift mutations in atpE. Mol Gen Genet 221:155-163

• Locus:
• atpE
• Chromosome:
• chloroplast

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, January 1982

Phenotype: requires acetate

CC-4150 is a better isolate of the same mutant.

• Locus:
• atpF
• Chromosome:
• chloroplast

From Pierre Bennoun, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, January 1982

Phenotype: requires acetate

This is a mutation in the chloroplast atpI gene, encoding subunit IV of the CF0 ATP synthase complex.

Bennoun P, Masson A, Piccioni R, Chua NH (1978) Uniparental mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii defective in photosynthesis. Chloroplast Development 721-726

Woessner JP, Masson A, Harris EH, Bennoun P, Gillham NW, Boynton JE (1984) Molecular and genetic analysis of the chloroplast ATPase of chlamydomonas. Plant Mol Biol 3:177-190

Lemaire C, Wollman FA (1989) The chloroplast ATP synthase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. II. Biochemical studies on its biogenesis using mutants defective in photophosphorylation. J Biol Chem 264:10235-10242

• Locus:
• atpI
• Chromosome:
• chloroplast

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: impaired motility

From a cross of CC-899 pf10 mt+ x CC-704 ac46 mt-. This strain is not acetate-requiring.

• Locus:
• PF10
• Chromosome:
• 17

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: impaired motility

From a cross of CC-1036 pf18 mt+ x CC-124 wild type.

• Locus:
• PF18
• Chromosome:
• 2

From Ursula Goodenough, Washington University, 1982

Phenotype: does not mate; requires arginine; antibiotic resistant (streptomycin)

Please see CC-463 for more information on imp2.

• Locus:
• ARG7, IMP2 [SAG1], SR1
• Chromosome:
• 1,8,9

From Ursula Goodenough, Washington University, 1982

Phenotype: does not mate; requires arginine; antibiotic resistant (streptomycin)

Please see CC-469 for more information on imp5.

• Locus:
• ARG7, IMP5 [SAG1], SR1
• Chromosome:
• 1,8,9

From Ursula Goodenough, Washington University, 1982

Phenotype: does not mate; requires arginine; antibiotic resistant (streptomycin)

Please see CC-472 for more information on imp7.

• Locus:
• ARG7, IMP7 [SAG1], SR1
• Chromosome:
• 1,8,9

From Ursula Goodenough, Washington University, 1982

Phenotype: does not mate; requires arginine; antibiotic resistant (streptomycin)

Please see CC-474 for more information on imp8.

• Locus:
• ARG7, IMP8 [SAG2], SR1
• Chromosome:
• 1,9

From Ursula Goodenough, Washington University, 1982

Phenotype: does not mate; requires arginine; antibiotic resistant (streptomycin)

Please see CC-1146 for more information on imp9.

• Locus:
• ARG7, IMP9 [SAG1], SR1
• Chromosome:
• 1,8,9

From Ursula Goodenough, Washington University, 1982

Phenotype: does not mate; requires arginine

Please see CC-472 for more information on imp7.

• Locus:
• ARG7, IMP7 [SAG1]
• Chromosome:
• 1,8

From Ursula Goodenough, Washington University, 1982

Phenotype: does not mate; requires arginine

Please see CC-474 for more information on imp8.

• Locus:
• ARG7
• Chromosome:
• 1

From Ursula Goodenough, Washington University, 1982

Phenotype: does not mate; requires arginine

Carol Hwang reported in June 1991 that their isolate of this strain was able to grow on TAP without arginine, but the stock in the Chlamydomonas Center did not grow on HS minimal medium when tested in 1992.

Hwang CJ, Monk BC, Goodenough UW (1981) Linkage of Mutations Affecting minus Flagellar Membrane Agglutinability to the mt Mating-Type Locus of Chlamydomonas. Genetics 99:41-47

Galloway RE, Goodenough UW (1985) Genetic analysis of mating locus linked mutations in Chlamydomonas reinhardii. Genetics 111:447-461

Pasquale SM, Goodenough UW (1987) Cyclic AMP functions as a primary sexual signal in gametes of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. J Cell Biol 105:2279-2292

Matsuda Y, Saito T, Umemoto T, Tsubo Y (1988) Transmission patterns of chloroplast genes after polyethylene glycol-induced fusion of gametes in non-mating mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Curr Genet 14:53-58

• Locus:
• ARG7, IMP12 [SAD1]
• Chromosome:
• 1,6

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: wall deficient; antibiotic resistant (streptomycin); motility somewhat impaired

From a cross of CC-400 cw15 x CC-1144, a multiply marked strain.

This strain was obtained in an unsuccessful attempt to map the CW15 locus. It has been confirmed to contain the wild type allele at the NIT1 locus.

• Locus:
• NIT2, PF2, SR1
• Chromosome:
• 3,9,11

From Ruth Sager, Sidney Farber Cancer Institute, May 1982

Phenotype: antibiotic resistant (spectinomycin, streptomycin)

Originally described by Sager as a spontaneous mutation in a culture of spc sm2 mt-, mat-1 appeared to increase the frequency of zygotes biparental for chloroplast markers in crosses, and was reported to be closely linked to the mating type locus. Subsequent work by Gillham et al. showed that the original mat-1 strain was a diploid stock rather than a new haploid mutation.

CC-1312 was used by Nishiyama et al. in a study of methylation of chloroplast DNA that resulted in cloning of the chloroplast-resident DNA methyltransferase.

Sager R, Ramanis Z (1974) Mutations that alter the transmission of chloroplast genes in Chlamydomonas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 71:4698-4702

Gillham NW, Boynton JE, Johnson AM, Burkhart BD (1987) Mating type linked mutations which disrupt the uniparental transmission of chloroplast genes in chlamydomonas. Genetics 115:677-684

• Locus:
• rps12, rrnS
• Chromosome:
• chloroplast

From Robert Smyth, June 1982

Phenotype: altered phototaxis

The agg1 allele is a naturally occurring variant found in the wild type strain CC-124 and was described as as np (negatively phototactic) by Smith and Ebersold. agg1 cells show strong negative phototaxis, and form a tight pellet at the bottom of a liquid culture in overhead light.

Since it occurs in a wild type strain that has been involved in many crosses over the years, the agg1 allele is probably widespread throughout strains in the Chlamydomonas Resource Center collection. However, most cultures in the collection have not been tested for this phenotype.

CC-1328 is a clean agg1 mutation in mating type plus.

Hudock GA, Hudock MO (1973) Phototaxis: isolation of mutant strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardi with reversed sign of response. J Protozool 20:139-140

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

Smyth RD, Ebersold WT (1985) Genetic investigation of a negatively phototactic strain of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Genet Res 46:133-148

Zacks DN, Spudich JL (1994) Gain setting in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: mechanism of phototaxis and the role of the photophobic response. Cell Motil Cytoskeleton 29:225-230

• Locus:
• AGG1
• Chromosome:
• 13

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: requires acetate and nicotinamide; antibiotic resistant (cycloheximide)

From a series of crosses in 1982. The ac12 allele traces back to CC-1020, act1 to CC-270, and nic2 to CC-11.

This strain marks linkage group II with three easily scored mutations.

• Locus:
• AC12, ACT1, NIC2 [QPT1]
• Chromosome:
• 2

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: motility impaired

This strain derives from a series of crosses in 1982, tracing back to CC-607 pf5, a strain from Levine’s laboratory that is no longer in the collection. Yang et al. (2009) determined that the mutation in this strain is an allele at the FLA14 locus, affecting the LC8 protein, and renamed it fla14-3. They also reported that CC-1028, also designated pf5, has a wild-type FLA14 gene and must therefore represent a different mutation.

This strain has the wild type alleles at the NIT1 and NIT2 loci and can grow on nitrate.

• Locus:
• PF5 [DLL1]
• Chromosome:
• 3

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: requires acetate; motility impaired

From a cross of CC-561 ac6 mt+ (now defunct) x CC-262 pf17 mt-

This strain marks both arms of linkage group VII.

The ac6 mutant must be scored on minimal medium at high pH (make TAP medium, omitting acetic acid and using HCl to bring pH to 8.3). Please see CC-2 for more information on this mutation.

• Locus:
• AC6, PF17 [RSP9]
• Chromosome:
• 7

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: requires acetate; antibiotic resistant (cycloheximide; fusidic acid)

From a cross of CC-1041 ac40 act1 sr-u-sm2 mt+ x CC-1095 fsr1 mt-. By 2002, the ac mutation in CC-1041 was no longer scorable, and the strain was discarded.

This is a triply marked strain for linkage group II. This strain may also carry the chloroplast streptomycin resistance marker sr-u-sm2 from its CC-1041 parent.

• Locus:
• AC40, ACT1, FSR1
• Chromosome:
• 2

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: requires acetate

From a cross of CC-803 lf2 mt+ x CC-541 ac59 mt-.

• Locus:
• AC59
• Chromosome:
• 12

From Alexander Chunayev, Leningrad State University, August 1982; replaced September 1989

Phenotype: chlorophyll b deficient

The cbn1 mutants are deficient in chlorophyll b and have reduced amounts of neoxanthin, but can grow phototrophically. Many allelic mutations have been found at this locus, which encodes chlorophyll a oxidase, but cbn1-48 is the best-characterized. This strain is from a cross by Alexander Chunayev, selected as a cbn1 product that is green in the dark.

The locus was mapped to linkage group I by Mirnaya et al. (1990). Tanaka et al. (1998) isolated insertional mutants with a similar phenotype and showed that they were in the CAO gene. Gophur Mijit (personal communication) reported identification of cbn1 as an allele at this locus in 2005.

Mirnaya ON, Fomina-Eshchenko YG, Chunaev AS (1990) Localization of the cbn1 mutation in the first linkage group of nuclear genes of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Genetika 26:958-960

Tanaka A, Ito H, Tanaka R, Tanaka NK, Yoshido K, Okada K (1998) Chlorophyll a oxygenase (CAO) is involved in chlorophyll b formation from chlorophyll a. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:12719-12723

• Locus:
• CBN1 [CAO1]
• Chromosome:
• 1

From Alexander Chunayev, Leningrad State University, August 1982; replaced September 1989

Phenotype: chlorophyll b deficient

The cbn1 mutants are deficient in chlorophyll b but can grow phototrophically. This strain is from a cross by Alexander Chunayev, selected as a cbn1 product that is green in the dark.

For more information on cbn1, please see CC-1354.

• Locus:
• CBN1 [CAO1]
• Chromosome:
• 1

From Alexander Chunayev, Leningrad State University, August 1982; replaced September 1989

Phenotype: chlorophyll deficient

This strain is light green and is sensitive to bright light. We maintain it in the dark. This mutant was isolated as a segregant from a cross to wild type of a yellow-in-the-light revertant from the lts1-154 strain. In Gyurjan’s laboratory this strain was shown to be photosensitive in bright light. It was described as “lutescent”, being yellow-green in the dark and yellow in the light.

Chlamydomonas Genetics Center, Duke University, 1982

Phenotype: requires acetate; antibiotic resistant (cycloheximide); motility impaired

From a series of crosses in 1982. The ac30 allele derives from CC-535, pf14 from CC-613, and act2 from the Ebersold multiply marked strain CC-28.

This strain provides three markers on the right arm of linkage group VI.

• Locus:
• AC30, ACT2 [RPL36a], PF14 [RSP3]
• Chromosome:
• 6