Gene expression: from transcription to alternative splicing

Previous works performed in Chlamydomonas on transcription, splicing, and other RNA processing events are presented in this chapter. Much of current knowledge about the mechanisms of those processes comes from studies on yeast, but yeast lacks the complexity of multicellular species whereas the transcriptional profile of Chlamydomonas is more akin to multicellular organisms. Chlamydomonas has a large repertoire of transcription factors, but little is known about their binding sites and regulatory targets. Splicing in Chlamydomonas is nearly as complex as in multicellular organisms but also has the genetic tractability of yeast. We suggest that many transcriptional mechanisms could be studied in Chlamydomonas in the future.