Although Chlamydomonas is the most well-known “model” organism, other green algae present interesting physiologies for investigation or offer experimental advantages for research. In addition to the Chlamydomonas genome, the group has assembled genomes for Dunaliella spp., Chromochloris zofingiensis and Auxenochlorella protothecoides. I will present work on the mechanism of translation of nucleus-encoded bicistronic mRNAs, structural analysis of photosystem I from Fe-deficient Dunaliella spp. and synthetic biology in Auxenochlorella to generate a complex bioproduct. These stories exemplify the contributions to basic and applied research of studies using simple unicellular organisms.

Host: Libo Shan