It seems that it is not as easy as for yeast, but people are doing mating and tetrad dissection. Are you planning to adapt micro-manipulator for Chlamy?

Thanks Aliona for the response! I know genetics is not as easy in Chlamy. For one, its genome is ~10x larger than in yeast. That's why we are wondering if micro-manipulators would help with the genetics work in the algae community.

Hi Jay. I enjoyed working with Singer dissection microscope for 10 years. When I have began to work with Chlamy my first decision was that I would come back to it as soon as possible. Unfortunately I still have nothing to dissect. I am sure it can be very useful.

Thanks for the kind words, Aliona!

Sorry for the late reply, I just saw this post. We use a yeast tetrad dissection scope, but the probe has a rounded end (flame-generated) rather than a flat end. Tetrad products are moved across the surface of the plate with the probe gently touching the surface, and the cell(s) trapped in the liquid around the probe tip. By streaking the mating mix in a square on the dissection plate, you can dissect 40-50 tetrads/plate in about an hour. Of course, sometimes you get 8 products instead of 4...