Type:

Freshwater Media

Description:

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular flagellated green alga in the phylum Chlorophyceae. First isolated in 1945, this species is a model organism for a variety of problems in cellular and molecular biology, including the mechanics based on the movement of flagella and phototaxis. In addition to being in freshwater, this species is also present in the soil, although only in its asexual stage. This stage is usually a direct product of reproduction, where cells can divide multiple times through meiosis to produce four to eight daughter cells before rupturing from the mother cell wall. Due to its long history as a model organism, C. reinhardtii has as well been explored as a source of biofuels and biopharmaceuticals. This cell has been used to produce complex vaccines and therapeutic drugs, explored as a source of pure hydrogen, and even its channel pigments have been used in optogenetics (a method of neurobiology for exploring different gene expressions).