Nuclear pre-mRNA splicing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

While there are some differences in the nuclear pre-mRNA splicing machineries of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and higher eukaryotic cells, it is apparent that the fundamental mechanism of this reaction is highly conserved. S. cerevisiae is, therefore, an attractive organism for the study of splicing, since it is amenable to classical and molecular genetics as well as traditional biochemical methods. Here we present an outline of some of the advances which have resulted from this powerful combination of approaches.