Chloroplast and nuclear DNA fragments from Chlamydomonas promoting high frequency transformation of yeast

A hybrid plasmid (pLG4) containing pBR325 and the yeast arg4 gene was constructed then used to isolate DNA fragments of Chlamydomonas able to promote high frequency transformation of yeast. Three plasmids containing EcoRI restriction fragments of chloroplast DNA and two plasmids containing Aval fragments of nuclear DNA were shown to support autonomous replication of plasmids in yeast. The three EcoRI fragments correspond to restriction fragments R4, R5 and R11 of native chloroplast DNA. These fragments are clustered in the physical map of chloroplast DNA constructed by Rochaix (1978). All isolated plasmids were shown to transform yeast at high frequency but the yeast transformants were quite unstable mitotically. Potential cloning sites are still available in the new plasmids which could be used as vectors in yeast and possibly in Chlamydomonas itself.