What is Volvox? The name comes from the Latin volvere, to roll, and ox, as in atrox, fierce. Volvox is a spherical multicellular green alga, which contains many small biflagellate somatic cells and a few large, non-motile reproductive cells called gonidia, and swims with a characteristic rolling motion. Ever since van Leeuwenhoek first viewed these algal ‘fierce rollers’ with utter fascination ...

Volvox barberi is a multicellular green alga forming spherical colonies of 10000-50000 differentiated somatic and germ cells. Here, I show that these colonies actively self-organize over minutes into “flocks” that can contain more than 100 colonies moving and rotating collectively for hours. The colonies in flocks form two-dimensional, irregular, “active crystals”, with lattice angles and colon...

The multicellular alga Volvox is an attractive model for the study of developmental processes. With the recent report of successful transformation, regulated promoters as well as reporter genes working in this organism are now required. The Volvox genes encoding arylsulfatase and the extracellular glycoprotein ISG are strictly regulated. The former is transcribed only under conditions of sulfur...

Volvox barberi W. Shaw is a volvocalean green alga composed of biflagellated cells. Vovocales with 16 cells or more form spherical colonies, and their largest members have germ-soma separation (all species in the genus Volvox). V. barberi is the largest Volvox species recorded in terms of cell number (10,000-50,000 cells) and has the highest somatic to reproductive cell ratio (S/R). Since they ...

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a science superstar. This diminutive green alga with 1 cell and 2 lively flagella, and the nickname Chlamy, consistently punches above its weight in the arena of big research (Harris 2001). When not basking in freshwater ponds, it is found in laboratory beakers, helping researchers answer essential questions about the evolution and physiology of cells. In 2007, Chla...

A preliminary genetic analysis of a number of genetic variants of Volvox carteri f. nagariensis is presented. Techniques are outlined for mutagenesis of Volvox, isolation of mutants and routine genetic analysis. All of the mutants show simple Mendelian segregation patterns and have been tentatively placed in 14 linkage groups.

Volvox barberi W. Shaw is a volvocalean green alga composed of biflagellated cells. Vovocales with 16 cells or more form spherical colonies, and their largest members have germ-soma separation (all species in the genus Volvox). V. barberi is the largest Volvox species recorded in terms of cell number (10,000–50,000 cells) and has the highest somatic to reproductive cell ratio (S ⁄R). Since they...

The lineage of volvocine algae includes unicellular Chlamydomonas and multicellular Volvox in addition to their colonial relatives intermediate in size and cell number. In an asexual life cycle, daughter cells of Chlamydomonas hatch from parental cell walls soon after cell division, while Volvox juveniles are released from parental spheroids after the completion of various developmental events ...

Chlamydomonadalean green algae are no stranger to linear mitochondrial genomes, particularly members of the Reinhardtinia clade. At least nine different Reinhardtinia species are known to have linear mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs), including the model species Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Thus, it is no surprise that some have suggested that the most recent common ancestor of the Reinhardtinia clade ...