Open AccessIsolation and Characterization of a Mutant of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Deficient in the CO2 Concentrating Mechanism
Author(s) -
James V. Moroney,
H. David Husic,
N. E. Tolbert,
Masahiko Kitayama,
Livingston J. Manuel,
Robert K. Togasaki
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
plant physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.554
H-Index - 312
eISSN - 1532-2548
pISSN - 0032-0889
DOI - 10.1104/pp.89.3.897
Subject(s) - chlamydomonas reinhardtii , mutant , chlamydomonas , mechanism (biology) , isolation (microbiology) , characterization (materials science) , chemistry , biophysics , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , gene , nanotechnology , materials science , physics , quantum mechanics
A Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutant has been isolated that cannot grow photoautotrophically on low CO(2) concentrations but can grow on elevated CO(2). In a test cross, the high CO(2)-requirement for growth showed a 2:2 segregation. This mutant, designated CIA-5, had a phenotype similar to previously identified mutants that were defective in some aspect of CO(2) accumulation. Unlike previously isolated mutants, CIA-5 did not have detectable levels of the periplasmic carbonic anhydrase, an inducible protein that participates in the acquisition of CO(2) by C. reinhardtii. CIA-5 also did not accumulate inorganic carbon to levels higher than could be accounted for by diffusion. This mutant strain did not synthesize any of the four polypeptides preferentially made by wild type C. reinhardtii when switched from an environment containing elevated CO(2) levels to an environment low in CO(2). It is concluded that this mutant fails to induce the CO(2) concentrating system and is incapable of adapting to low CO(2) conditions.