S. cerevisiae: Difference between revisions

From The School of Biomedical Sciences Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
Nnjm2 (talk | contribs)
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' is type of yeast. It is a small, oval, single- celled organism that divides by budding to reproduce. It can divide existing as a haploid or diploid, depending on environment. ''S. cerevisiae'' is commonly used as baker's and brewer's yeast. It is part of the fungi kingdom and has a thick, waxy cell wall. The cells contain mitachondria but no chloroplasts.<ref>Alberts B., Johnson A., Lewis J., Raff M., Roberts K. and Walter P. (2008) Molecular Biology of the Cell, 5th Edition, New York: Garland Science. p33</ref>  
''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' is type of yeast. It is a small, oval, single- celled [[organism|organism]] that divides by budding to reproduce. It can divide existing as a haploid or diploid, depending on environment. ''S. cerevisiae'' is commonly used as baker's and brewer's yeast. It is part of the fungi kingdom and has a thick, waxy cell wall. The cells contain mitachondria but no chloroplasts.<ref>Alberts B., Johnson A., Lewis J., Raff M., Roberts K. and Walter P. (2008) Molecular Biology of the Cell, 5th Edition, New York: Garland Science. p33</ref>  


Its genome was sequenced in 1997 and was the first eukaryotic organism to have its genome sequenced. Its genome is approximately 13Mb (Mb=millions of base pairs) and 6000 genes. <ref>Hartl D.L and Ruvolo M. (2012) Genetics: Analysis of Genes and Genomes, 8th Edition, Burlington: Jones and Bartlett Learning. p34</ref>&nbsp;
Its genome was sequenced in 1997 and was the first eukaryotic organism to have its genome sequenced. Its genome is approximately 13Mb (Mb=millions of base pairs) and 6000 genes. <ref>Hartl D.L and Ruvolo M. (2012) Genetics: Analysis of Genes and Genomes, 8th Edition, Burlington: Jones and Bartlett Learning. p34</ref>&nbsp;  


It has key characteristics which make it a useful model organism, a well established experimental biological system, for work in laboratories:  
It has key characteristics which make it a useful model organism, a well established experimental biological system, for work in laboratories:  
Line 11: Line 11:
*it shares homology with humans and has been used specifically in the research of the cell division cycle, gene expression, DNA replication and repair and cell signalling  
*it shares homology with humans and has been used specifically in the research of the cell division cycle, gene expression, DNA replication and repair and cell signalling  
*it has a large mutant collection  
*it has a large mutant collection  
*it is non-pathogenic
*it is non-pathogenic<br>


 
=== References ===
 
=== References ===


<references />
<references />

Revision as of 01:06, 28 November 2014

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is type of yeast. It is a small, oval, single- celled organism that divides by budding to reproduce. It can divide existing as a haploid or diploid, depending on environment. S. cerevisiae is commonly used as baker's and brewer's yeast. It is part of the fungi kingdom and has a thick, waxy cell wall. The cells contain mitachondria but no chloroplasts.[1]

Its genome was sequenced in 1997 and was the first eukaryotic organism to have its genome sequenced. Its genome is approximately 13Mb (Mb=millions of base pairs) and 6000 genes. [2] 

It has key characteristics which make it a useful model organism, a well established experimental biological system, for work in laboratories:

  • it is a unicellular eukaryote that can be studied under the microscope
  • it is small so is cheap and easy store
  • it grows rapidly in a simple nutrient medium, having an approximate generation time of 80 minutes
  • it can be genetically modified relatively easily, and has been extensively studied in the past, so lots is known about its genes.
  • it shares homology with humans and has been used specifically in the research of the cell division cycle, gene expression, DNA replication and repair and cell signalling
  • it has a large mutant collection
  • it is non-pathogenic

References

  1. Alberts B., Johnson A., Lewis J., Raff M., Roberts K. and Walter P. (2008) Molecular Biology of the Cell, 5th Edition, New York: Garland Science. p33
  2. Hartl D.L and Ruvolo M. (2012) Genetics: Analysis of Genes and Genomes, 8th Edition, Burlington: Jones and Bartlett Learning. p34