When Unity Is Strength: The Strategies Used by Chlamydomonas to Survive Environmental Stresses

• Published in: Cells (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 8; no. 11; p. 1307
• Main Authors: de Carpentier, Félix, Lemaire, Stéphane D, Danon, Antoine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23-10-2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Acclimation; aggregation; Algae; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Cell Behavior; Cell death; Cellular Biology; Chlamydomonas; Endoplasmic reticulum; Environmental conditions; Growth conditions; Life Sciences; Organisms; Oxidative stress; palmelloid; programmed cell death; Proteins; Review; Socialization; stress responses; Transcription factors; Vegetal Biology; aggregation; palmelloid; programmed cell death; stress responses; acclimation
• ISSN: 2073-4409; 2073-4409
• DOI: 10.3390/cells8111307

The unicellular green alga
is a valuable model system to study a wide spectrum of scientific fields, including responses to environmental conditions. Most studies are performed under optimal growth conditions or under mild stress. However, when environmental conditions become harsher, the behavior of this unicellular alga is less well known. In this review we will show that despite being a unicellular organism,
can survive very severe environmental conditions. To do so, and depending on the intensity of the stress, the strategies used by
can range from acclimation to the formation of multicellular structures, or involve programmed cell death.