What is the advantage of using chlorella rather than a higher plant?
Although photosynthesis in chlorella and higher plants is biochemically similar, Melvin Calvin (1954) chose chlorella for the following reasons: (i) Chlorella culture is a chloroplast culture because a single chloroplast occupies a substantial volume of each cell. (ii) Synchronous culture can be easily accomplished in a short period of time. (iii) Cells are killed quickly when exposed to radioactive carbon dioxide. So, handling chlorella for research is simplified.
