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. 1990 Aug;87(15):5739–5743. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.15.5739

Rescue of a paralyzed-flagella mutant of Chlamydomonas by transformation.

D R Diener 1, A M Curry 1, K A Johnson 1, B D Williams 1, P A Lefebvre 1, K L Kindle 1, J L Rosenbaum 1
PMCID: PMC54403  PMID: 2377611

Abstract

The biflagellate alga Chlamydomonas has been used extensively in the genetic and biochemical analysis of flagellar assembly and motility. We have restored motility to a paralyzed-flagella mutant of Chlamydomonas by transforming with the corresponding wild-type gene. A nitrate reductase-deficient paralyzed-flagella strain, nit1-305 pf-14, carrying mutations in the genes for nitrate reductase and radial spoke protein 3, was transformed with wild-type copies of both genes. Two-thirds of the cells that survived nitrate selection also regained motility, indicating that they had been transformed with both the nitrate reductase and radial spoke protein 3 genes. Transformants typically contained multiple copies of both genes, genetically linked to each other, but not linked to the original mutant loci. Complementation of paralyzed-flagella mutants by transformation is a powerful tool for investigating flagellar assembly and function.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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