Molecular Characterization of Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, ac-208: A Plastocyanin-Less Mutant

Abstract

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, ac-208, is an acetate-requiring mutant which was isolated on the basis of its inability to fix carbon dioxide and is derived from the wild type (137c) by ultra violet irradiation (1,2). Gorman and Levine concluded that the only deficiency in this strain with respect to photosynthesis lies in the absence of plastocyanin (3). This conclusion was based on two experimental observations: plastocyanin could not be spectroscopically detected in extracts from the mutant cells and the addition of purified plastocyanin could restore electron transfer activity in chloroplast fragments of the mutant cells (4). The mutation was mapped to linkage group III and was found to be difficult to maintain free of suppressors (4).