Generation of Chlamydomonas strains that efficiently express nuclear transgenes

Abstract

The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is both an invaluable model organism for plant biology and an attractive biotechnological production system. Despite the availability of efficient methods for introduction of foreign genes into the nuclear genome of the alga, transgene expression levels are usually very poor. This is a serious limitation that has severely hampered both post-genomics research in Chlamydomonas and use of the alga in molecular farming. Here we report a solution to this problem. We have designed a genetic screen that facilitates isolation of algal strains that efficiently express introduced transgenes. The levels of accumulation of foreign protein in our expression strains are almost uniformly high in all transgenic clones and are little influenced by position effects. The possibility of expressing transgenes to high levels will greatly facilitate post-genomics research in Chlamydomonas, and will also boost exploitation of the alga as an inexpensive production host for biopharmaceuticals and other valuable compounds.