Isolation of cycloheximide-resistant mutants of Cyanidioschyzon merolae

Abstract

Cyanidioschyzon merolae is a unicellular red alga that lives in acidic hot springs. The genome sequence of C. merolae has been completely read, but a lack of transformation systems still limits its application in genetics. To choose an appropriate drug for use in selectable media, we examined the effects of seven antibiotics on the growth of C. merolae. Only cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, effectively inhibited the growth. We noticed that there was a population that could survive in the presence of cycloheximide and succeeded in isolating six cycloheximide-resistant clones. All these clones have the same single mutation in the ribosomal protein L29 gene that encodes a ribosomal protein.