We have contributed to a comprehensive description of the telomere-to-telomere structure of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii genome, detailed its sub-telomeric structure and characterized its telomerase and corresponding mutants. We now aim to extend similar studies to diatom telomeres.
We are leading a broad international consortium to assemble and annotate the nuclear and organelle genomes of 20 wild isolates of the unusually polymorphic C. reinhardtii. The resulting Chlamydomonas pan-genome should allow whole genome association studies and a detailed correlation between genomic and phenotypic diversity. We are also sequencing and annotating five strains Polytomella, a Chlamydomonas relative that has lost the plastid genome and is thus purely heterotrophic.
We participate in the international “100 Diatoms Genome Project” (JGI), which aims to sequence the genomes of novel species representing the vast diversity of diatoms. We contribute by generating new genomic data from selected species and investigating the diversity of regulators involved in light sensing and signaling, photoacclimation, and plastid biogenesis. This work supports many ongoing studies within Themes 1 and 3. The project also benefits from novel transcriptomic data generated both in our lab and by collaborators, which are integrated into the DiatOmicBase genome portal—developed jointly by our lab and ENS. This portal provides comprehensive omics resources for key diatom species.