Background
Green plants comprise two lineages: (1) the streptophytes that colonised land and (2) the chlorophytes that have adaptations to land but remained mostly aquatic. To better understand what made streptophytes so successful, we are currently establishing the chlorophyte alga
Draparnaldia
sp. (Chaetophorales, Chlorophyceae) as a model for comparative analyses between these two lineages. However, establishing
Draparnaldia
as a valuable model requires that it can be transformed. Thus, our goal is to develop a transformation protocol for this alga.
Results
We have established the first transformation protocol for
Draparnaldia
. This protocol is based on protoplast transformation by electroporation. It includes instructions on protoplast isolation, regeneration and transient transfection. It also provides a list of the effective selective agents for future
Draparnaldia
transformations.
Conclusions
Our protocol opens a way for
Draparnaldia
functional genomics analyses. Moreover, it also provides an important base for establishment of stable transformation.
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (10.1186/s13007-019-0460-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.