title: High-Throughput Genetics Strategies for Identifying New Components of Lipid Metabolism in the Green Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
abstract: Microalgal lipid metabolism is of broad interest because microalgae accumulate large amounts of triacylglycerols (TAGs) that can be used for biodiesel production (Durrett et al Plant J 54(4):593-607, 2008; Hu et al Plant J 54(4):621-639, 2008). Additionally, green algae are close relatives of land plants and serve as models to understand conserved lipid metabolism pathways in the green lineage. The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Chlamydomonas hereafter) is a powerful model organism for understanding algal lipid metabolism. Various methods have been used to screen Chlamydomonas mutants for lipid amount or composition, and for identification of the mutated loci in mutants of interest. In this chapter, we summarize the advantages and caveats for each of these methods with a focus on screens for mutants with perturbed TAG content. We also discuss technical opportunities and new tools that are becoming available for screens of mutants altered in TAG content or perturbed in other processes in Chlamydomonas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. mjonikas@carnegiescience.edu.
authors.forename: Martin C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Jonikas
mesh_terms: D016825:Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides
keywords: Algae; Chlamydomonas; Fluorescence-activated cell sorting; High-throughput genetics; Lipid analysis; Lipid droplets; Lipids; Nitrogen deprivation; Triacylglycerol