Yeast Exercise 1

Name________________________

StarGenetics
Yeast Exercise 1
Description of StarGenetics
In this exercise you will use StarGenetics, a software tool that simulates mating experiments, to analyze
the nature and mode of inheritance of specific genetic traits.
Getting started with StarGenetics

• To get to StarGenetics, please navigate to: http://web.mit.edu/star/genetics/.
• Click on the Start button to launch the application.
• Click Trust when a prompt appears asking if you trust the certificate.
• Click on File  New in the drop-down menu in the upper left hand corner.
• Click on the Yeast Exercise 1 file.
You’ve just conducted a genetic screen for temperature-sensitive mutants in the yeast Saccharomyces
cerevisiae. You have identified 20 haploid yeast mutants that can grow at 25°C, but not at 37°C. In
addition to their temperature-sensitivity phenotype, all 20 mutants also carry a ura3- mutation, which
means that they cannot grow unless the amino acid uracil is provided in their growth media.
You know that haploid yeast can be one of two possible mating types, either MATa or MATalpha. MATa
haploid yeast can mate with MATalpha haploid yeast to produce a diploid. The mating types of the
mutants that you identified in your genetic screen are unknown. To help you determine the mating type of
each mutant, you also have two mating type tester strains. Since the mating type of each tester strain is
known, you can use them to determine the unknown mating types of your mutants. The two tester strains
carry a lys9- mutation, which means that they cannot grow unless the amino acid lysine is provided in their
growth media. In all other respects, the tester strains are genetically wild type.
1 Determine the mating type of each of the 20 temperature-sensitive haploid mutants. Describe your
method for determining this information. Specify the lawn, selection media and temperature that you used
in your experiment.
• You can accomplish this task more efficiently by selecting the Non-tetrad experiment option within
the Choose experimental setup window.
• All the 20 mutant strains and the two mating type tester strains can be found within the Strains box.
To add ALL the strains within your Strains box to your experiment, click on the Add all strains
button within the Active Experiment window.
• In addition to the strains box, all mutant strains and the mating type tester strains have been grown
on individual plates in which colonies for a particular strain have grown and merged together
resembling a mat or a lawn (see Select lawn window). Individual yeast colonies from one mating type
can be replica plated onto lawns from strains of a different mating type to perform a mating
experiment between two strains.
• Use crosses to the mating type tester strains (select strains to mate within the Select lawn window
menu) and plating on appropriate media (select specific media to plate within the Select media
window menu). Click Add.
Answer
Ver. 1 - C. Kaiser 1
2 Determine which of the temperature-sensitive mutant phenotypes are recessive and which are dominant
relative to wild type. Describe your method for determining this information. Specify the lawn, selection
media and temperature that you used in your experiment.
Answer
3 Although the 20 mutant strains share the inability to grow at 37°C, this does not indicate whether the
observed temperature sensitivities are caused by mutations in the same gene or in different genes. To the
extent possible, use crosses between the mutants to determine which have temperature-sensitive
phenotypes caused by mutations in the same gene and which have phenotypes caused by mutations in
different genes (i.e., perform a complementation test). If a particular mutant cannot be classified by this
method, explain WHY this is the case.
Answer
4 During the complementation test, what observations did you make regarding Mutant 8? What
explanation could account for these observations?
Answer
5 Based on the complementation test, what is the minimum and the maximum number of genes that
you’ve identified in your genetic screen as having an effect on temperature-sensitivity? Explain your
answer.
Answer

Yeast Exercise 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Yeast Exercise 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Yeast Exercise 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Name________________________

Getting started with StarGenetics

You might also like