Genome-wide response to CO2 deficiency in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii revealed by RNA-seq analysis

The unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, has been used as a model organism for investigating photosynthesis, stress response, and cilia/flagella function. In Chlamydomonas, CO2 signal transduction is essential to induce the carbon-concentrating mechanism (CCM) and to support the efficient photosynthesis under CO2-limiting conditions. CCM1, a zinc-binding protein, is reported to function as a master regulator of the CCM, other components associated with the CO2-signal transduction are totally unknown. In this study, to identify the molecular mechanism regulating the CCM, the genome-wide Chlamydomonas transcriptome using RNA-seq technology was characterized from wild-type and ccm1 mutant. Based on the comprehensive transcriptome profiling, the genome-wide response to CO2 deficiency and the CCM1-dependent CO2-signaling cascade would be revealed.