Utility of a GFP reporter system in the red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae

Abstract

Cyanidioschyzon merolae is a unicellular red alga found in acidic hot springs. The cell contains one nucleus, one mitochondrion, and one plastid, each with its own genome (Kuroiwa, 1998). The complete sequences of the three genomes have been determined (Matsuzaki et al., 2004; Nozaki et al., 2007; Ohta et al., 1998, 2003). C. merolae has been proposed as the primitive phototrophic eukaryote because of its extremely simple cell structure and minimally redundant small genome. Therefore, it is used as a model organism to investigate the basic architecture of photosynthetic eukaryotes.