title: Respiratory-deficient mutants of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas: a review.
abstract: Genetic manipulation of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is straightforward. Nuclear genes can be interrupted by insertional mutagenesis or targeted by RNA interference whereas random or site-directed mutagenesis allows the introduction of mutations in the mitochondrial genome. This, combined with a screen that easily allows discriminating respiratory-deficient mutants, makes Chlamydomonas a model system of choice to study mitochondria biology in photosynthetic organisms. Since the first description of Chlamydomonas respiratory-deficient mutants in 1977 by random mutagenesis, many other mutants affected in mitochondrial components have been characterized. These respiratory-deficient mutants increased our knowledge on function and assembly of the respiratory enzyme complexes. More recently some of these mutants allowed the study of mitochondrial gene expression processes poorly understood in Chlamydomonas. In this review, we update the data concerning the respiratory components with a special focus on the assembly factors identified on other organisms. In addition, we make an inventory of different mitochondrial respiratory mutants that are inactivated either on mitochondrial or nuclear genes.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, UPR CNRS 2357, Associated with Université de Strasbourg, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Thalia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Salinas
authors.affiliation: Génétique des Microorganismes, Département de Sciences de la Vie, Institut de Botanique, B22, Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Larosa
authors.affiliation: Génétique des Microorganismes, Département de Sciences de la Vie, Institut de Botanique, B22, Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cardol
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, UPR CNRS 2357, Associated with Université de Strasbourg, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maréchal-Drouard
authors.affiliation: Génétique des Microorganismes, Département de Sciences de la Vie, Institut de Botanique, B22, Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium. Electronic address: c.remacle@ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Remacle
mesh_terms: D020418:Algal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016825:Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004579:Electron Transport / Q000235:genetics*; D042967:Electron Transport Complex I / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020418:Algal Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D042967:Electron Transport Complex I
keywords: Chlamydomonas; Mitochondria; Respiratory chain; Respiratory-deficient mutants