Chlamydomonas is a single-celled green alga that can move, thanks to two whip-like flagella that protrude from the front of the cell (see Figure 1). The structure of these organelles of motility has been highly conserved during evolution, and is identical in the flagella and cilia of all eukaryotic organisms.
Chlamy, as this protist is usually called by scientists, is easy to grow in the laboratory and, over many decades, researchers have generated a huge array of mutants. Some mutants have flagella that appear perfectly formed but do not move – similar to the situation in some human males, whose sperm are unable to swim. This has made Chlamy a popular model system for studies of male infertility and cilia-related disorders, such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS).
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