Extensive restriction fragment length polymorphisms in a new isolate of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

A new field isolate of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with useful properties for restriction fragment length polymorphism mapping is described in this report. The isolate, S1-D2 (mating type -), was the only strain found among 24 Chlamydomonas isolates taken from many locations which was interfertile with laboratory strains of C. reinhardtii. It mates at high efficiency, giving tetrads with excellent viability. Using cloned probes for both nuclear and chloroplast genes, we have found numerous restriction fragment length polymorphisms between S1-D2 and laboratory strains of C. reinhardtii.