Flagellar coordination in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: isolation and reactivation of the flagellar apparatus.

The flagellar apparatus (both flagella with basal bodies and accessory structures) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was isolated from a wall-less mutant and induced to swim in the presence of adenosine triphosphate. The movement of the flagella of the isolated apparatus was largely synchronous and indistinguishable from the movement of flagella on living cells. These observations suggest that the mechanism of flagellar coordination in this biflagellate alga is largely intrinsic to the structure of the flagellar apparatus itself.