Analysis of oil droplets in microalgae.

Microalgae are diverse groups of eukaryotic organisms capable of efficiently converting sunlight into chemical energy through photosynthesis with carbohydrates and oils as major storage products. Like other eukaryotes, microalgae store oils in dynamic subcellular organelles named oil droplets. In this chapter, we present a detailed description of basic procedures that can be followed for the isolation of mutants defective in oil droplet biogenesis and for the imaging and analysis of oil droplets in the model unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Several commonly used methods for isolating and purifying oil droplets in microalgae are discussed.