Analysis of cargo transport by IFT and GFP imaging of IFT in Chlamydomonas

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is the organism in which intraflagellar transport (IFT) was first visualized and in which the composition of IFT particles was originally elucidated. As the universality of IFT among ciliated/flagellated cells was uncovered, the diversity of organisms used to study IFT has grown. Still, because of the ease of isolation of flagella from Chlamydomonas and the battery of temperature-sensitive mutants affecting IFT proteins and motors, this unicellular alga remains the principal model for biochemical studies of IFT motors and cargo; furthermore, the long, exposed flagella of this cell are ideally suited for observing IFT in real time with GFP-tagged components of IFT.