Growth media for Chlamydomonas

There are several different media used to grow Chlamy. While each has advantages I will only describe one medium here. Tris-Acetate Phosphate (TAP) is a good general growth medium and is simple to make. The method that I give here is modified from the original description
(Gorman, D.S. and R.P. Levine (1965). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 54:1665-1669.
Hutner, et al. (1950). Methods in Enzymology, 23:68.)
While the final composition is the same, I have adjusted the concentration of the various ingredients, so that the same volume of each component is used. This helps to reduce errors when students make it up

To make one liter of TAP:

10 mls 2M Tris-acetate (pH 7.0)
10 mls Phosphate buffer (pH 7.0)
10 mls nutrient stock
10 mls trace metals (10x dilution)

Tris-Acetate Stock

242 g Tris base
Dissolve in 600 mls water while titrating to pH 7.0 with glacial acetic acid.
Bring to 1 litre

Nutrient Stock

NH4Cl 40 g,
MgSO4.7H2O 10 g,
CaCl2.2H2O 5 g
Bring to 1 litre

Phosphate buffer

K2HPO4 10.8 g,
KH2PO4 5.6 g   Bring to 1 litre
 

Trace elements

The trace elements should be Hutner's trace element solution. However, making this is a complex procedure so (unless you think you will be using a lot of it) there are a couple of alternatives. 
• Beg a few mls from someone who makes it
 • Make a soil extract by shaking a few grams of soil in water
 • Use a small amount of Job's plant food spike
 • Use tap water rather than distilled.

Variations

For plates add 15 g agar/litre. I find Difco BactoAgar is best

For sulfur free: substitute MgCl2 for the MgSO4 and omit trace elements

For maturing zygotes: reduce nutrients to 1 ml and add 40 g agar/litre

For nitrogen free: make a nutrient solution without NH4Cl