Molecular phylogeny studies indicated that the traditional genus Chlamydomonas as defined using morphological data, was polyphyletic within Volvocales. Many species were subsequently reclassified (e.g., Oogamochlamys, Lobochlamys), and many other "Chlamydomonas" s.l. lineages are still to be reclassified.[5][6][7]
Etymology
The name Chlamydomonas comes from the Greek roots chlamys, meaning cloak or mantle, and monas, meaning solitary, now used conventionally for unicellular flagellates.[8]
Description
Morphology
All Chlamydomonas are motile, unicellular organisms. Cells are generally spherical to cylindrical in shape, but may be elongately spindle-shaped,[9] and a papilla may be present or absent. Chloroplasts are green and usually cup-shaped.[10] A key feature of the genus is its two anterior flagella, each as long as the other.[8] The flagellar microtubules may each be disassembled by the cell to provide spare material to rebuild the other's microtubules if they are damaged.[11]
Cell wall is made up of a glycoprotein and non-cellulosic polysaccharides instead of cellulose.
Two anteriorly inserted whiplash flagella. Each flagellum originates from a basal granule in the anterior papillate or non-papillate region of the cytoplasm. Each flagellum shows a typical 9+2 arrangement of the component fibrils.
Contractile vacuoles are near the bases of flagella.
Prominent cup or bowl-shaped chloroplast is present. The chloroplast contains bands composed of a variable number of the photosynthetic thylakoids which are not organised into grana-like structures.
The nucleus is enclosed in a cup-shaped chloroplast, which has a single large pyrenoid where starch is formed from photosynthetic products. Pyrenoid with starch sheath is present in the posterior end of the chloroplast.
Eye spot present in the anterior portion of the chloroplast. It consists of two or three, more or less parallel rows of linearly arranged fat droplets.
Species
About 500 species of Chlamydomonas have been described.[9]
Chlamydomonas is widely distributed in freshwater or damp soil.[2] It is generally found in a habitat rich in ammonium salt. It possesses red eye spots for photosensitivity and reproduces both asexually and sexually.
Most species are obligate phototrophs but C. reinhardtii and C. dysostosis are facultative heterotrophs that can grow in the dark in the presence of acetate as a carbon source.
^ abSmith, G. M. 1955 Cryptogamic Botany Volume 1. Algae and Fungi McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc
^Hoham, R. W., Bonome, T. A., Martin, C. W. and Leebens-mack, J. H. 2002. A combined 18S rDNA and rbcL phylogenetic analysis of Chloromonas and Chlamydomonas (Chlorophyceae, Volvocales ) emphasizing snow and other cold-temperature habitats. Journal of Phycology, 38: 1051–1064. [1]
^A Falciatore, L Merendino, F Barneche, M Ceol, R Meskauskiene, K Apel, JD Rochaix (2005). The FLP proteins act as regulators of chlorophyll synthesis in response to light and plastid signals in Chlamydomonas. The red eyespot in Chlamydomonas is sensitive to light and hence determines movement. Genes & Dev, 19:176-187 [2]
^Juliet Brodie & Jane Lewis (2007). Unravelling the algae: the past, present, and future of algal systematics. CRC Press. p. 140, [3].
^Wehr, J.D., Sheath, R.G. & Kociolek, J.P. (eds., 2015). Freshwater Algae of North America: Ecology and Classification. Academic Press, USA, p. 275-276, [4].
^Proschold, T.; Marin, B.; Schlösser, U. G.; Melkonian, M. (2001). "Molecular phylogeny and taxonomic revision of (Chlorophyta). I. Emendation of Chlamydomonas Ehrenberg and Chloromonas Gobi, and Description of Oogamochlamys gen. nov. and Lobochlamys gen. nov". Protist. 152 (4): 265–300. doi:10.1078/1434-4610-00068. PMID11822658.
^ abGuiry, M.D.; Guiry, G.M. "Chlamydomonas". AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
^ abGuiry, M.D., John, D.M. Rindi, F. and McCarthy, T.K. (ed) 2007 New Survey of Clare Island Volume 6: The Freshwater and Terrestrial Algae. Royal Irish Academy. ISBN978-1-904890-31-7
^Aoyama, H., Kuroiwa, T and Nakamura,S. 2009. The dynamic behaviour of mitochrandia in living zygotes during maturation and meiosis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. European Journal Phycology44: 497 - 507