There’s a good reason baker’s yeast is one of the world’s most researched organisms: two-thirds of yeast genes have human counterparts. Still, despite scientists’ best efforts over decades, for more than a thousand protein-encoding baker’s yeast genes, their biological function remains a mystery. Cracking these mysteries could help us understand how analogous genes function in humans.
Now, researchers from the laboratory of Prof. Maya Schuldiner have created a new system that removes individual proteins from a yeast cell “on demand.” This dynamic system can reveal each protein’s unique function, an achievement that could improve our understanding of human genetics as well as the molecular dynamics that drive the onset of disease.
The research, led by doctoral student Rosario Valenti and Dr. Yotam David from Schuldiner’s lab and published in The Journal of Cell Biology, describes the creation of a specially engineered genetic collection of 5,170 yeast strains, each with a different protein under the researchers’ control. Using this resource, the scientists were able to determine the function of hundreds of genes that were previously not known to be vital for the cell’s survival, or its capacity to divide or create cellular energy.
Specifically, Prof. Schuldiner and her team identified 220 different proteins whose absence led to structural abnormalities in mitochondria―organelles that generate most of the chemical energy needed to power the cell.
The Schuldiner lab has now created a digital library open to any scientist who wants to “borrow” these genetic strains for their research—and it is already a hit with members of the global scientific community who seek to advance their own investigations about proteins whose function is still unknown.
Prof. Schuldiner and her team hope that, in the coming years, the library will help lift the veil of mystery from additional proteins by revealing the roles they play in human health and disease.
MAYA SCHULDINER IS SUPPORTED BY:
• The Blythe Brenden-Mann Foundation
• The Dr. Gil Omenn and Martha Darling Professorial Chair in Molecular Genetics
