By Louisa Howard, Dartmouth College

Scientific name: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Common name(s): Green algae

Name as shown in Phylogenes: C. reinhardtii

Ploidy: Haploid

Description:

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a haploid unicellular green algae found in a wide variety of environments all over the world including freshwater lakes, soil and snow. The single celled organism has one chloroplast and moves via an anterior flagella.It is a member of the Chrlorophyta; there are over 500 species of Chlamydomonas.

The most commonly used experimental species, C.reinhardtii , can be grown in the dark when supplied with acetate as an carbon source. It is used as a model system for studying a wide range of processes such as photosynthesis, flagella assembly and movement, phototaxis, and mating.

Reference(s):

Merchant SS, et al. The Chlamydomonas genome reveals the evolution of key animal and plant functions. Science. 2007 Oct 12;318(5848):245-50. doi: 10.1126/science.1143609

Genome Database(s):

ChlamyCyc 8.0

Chlamydomonas genome - Phytozome

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