Comparing flagellar regeneration between wild-type and mutant Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Abstract

Our study of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a single-celled alga that has been used as a model organism for studying flagellar structure and function, compares flagellar regeneration between wild-type (CC-1690 mt+ 21 gr) and mutant (CC-3913 pf9-3 mt-) phenotypes. This comparative study measures the length of flagellar regeneration after deflagellation in order to characterize the mutant pf9-3 mt- phenotype. Four replicates of each of mutant and wild-type organisms were exposed to acetic acid shock for 30 seconds to detach flagella and potassium hydroxide was added to stop the reaction. The cells were then allowed to regenerate their flagella in fresh media and a compound microscope was used to observe the process at time points 0 mins, 15 mins, and 30 mins post deflagellation. With our data and statistical analysis, we found that with increased time the wild-type organisms showed increased flagellar length with p-value of 0.01; We also found that the mutation did not affect flagellar regeneration with p-value of 0.55; Finally, our data supports that time has a different effect on wild-type and mutant strains with a p-value of 0.03. Qualitatively, mutants showed flagellar defects, abnormal responses to the deflagellation treatment and inconsistent regrowth patterns.