Skip to main content
Log in

Creature column

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: a model for photosynthesis and so much more

  • This Month
  • Published:

From Nature Methods

View current issue Submit your manuscript

The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a useful reference organism for studying photosynthesis, cilia and the cell cycle. Like many other algae, it exhibits daily rhythms in gene expression and behavior that are in sync with the rising and setting of the sun.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1: Chlamydomonas.
Fig. 2: Rhythmic diurnal gene expression.

References

  1. Gorman, D. S. & Levine, R. P. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 54, 1665–1669 (1965).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Rochaix, J. D., Dron, M., Rahire, M. & Malnoe, P. Plant Mol. Biol. 3, 363–370 (1984).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Dutcher, S. K. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken) 71, 79–94 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Pazour, G. J. et al. J. Cell Biol. 151, 709–718 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Freeman Rosenzweig, E. S. et al. Cell 171, 148–162.e19 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Kropat, J. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 2644–2651 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Davidi, L. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2305495120 (2023).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Cross, F. R. & Umen, J. G. Plant J 82, 370–392 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Strenkert, D. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 116, 2374–2383 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Li, X. et al. Nat. Genet. 51, 627–635 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Salomé, P. A. & Merchant, S. S. Plant Cell 33, 1058–1082 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Goodenough, U. W., Grossman, A. R., Wollman, F. A. & Dutcher, S. K. The Chlamydomonas Sourcebook 3rd edn (Elsevier Academic, 2023).

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank C. E. Blaby-Haas for providing input on this article. We are grateful for long-term support of our work by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy. This work was supported by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation’s Symbiosis in Aquatic Systems Initiative.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sabeeha S. Merchant.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dupuis, S., Merchant, S.S. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: a model for photosynthesis and so much more. Nat Methods 20, 1441–1442 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-023-02023-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-023-02023-6

  • Springer Nature America, Inc.

Navigation