Isolation and characterization of a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutant lacking the gamma-subunit of chloroplast coupling factor 1 (CF1).

Several nonphotoautotrophic mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were generated by transforming strain nit1-305 (cw 15) with exogenous DNA. An enrichment for potential photophosphorylation mutants was performed on medium containing arsenate, and acetate-requiring auxotrophs were then identified by replica plating. Strains containing a potential mutation in the nuclear DNA encoding the chloroplast coupling factor 1 (CF1) gamma-subunit (the atpC gene) were first identified serologically with a monospecific antiserum directed against the CF1 gamma-subunit polypeptide. Of several mutants isolated, one, designated T1-54, was characterized at the protein, DNA, and RNA levels. Mutant strain T1-54 lacks anti-CF1 gamma-subunit cross-reacting material, exhibits polymorphism at the atpC locus compared with the parental strain, and lacks the mRNA transcript for the CF1 gamma-subunit. The data are consistent with there being an insertion of exogenous DNA, a deletion of DNA, or both at the 5' end of the gene encoding the CF1 gamma-subunit.