Comparison of genetic differences and transcriptomic response to cadmium between Chlamydomonas acidophila and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

We used Illumina short read sequencing followed by de novo assembly to build the transcriptome of Chlamydomonas acidophila, a green alga living in extreme habitats. The assembled transcripts were annotated functionally and classified in functional Gene Ontology groups. Transcriptomic expression was measured before and after Cd exposure in this and the model microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii from the same genus. An analysis for differentially expressed transcripts shows that the transcriptomic response to Cd is clearly different between the two species. Our results show for the first time heavy-metal stress induced transposon activity to occur in green algae.