Smith M M, Santisteban M S
Department of Microbiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA.
Methods. 1998 Aug;15(4):269-81. doi: 10.1006/meth.1998.0631.
Mutational analysis is an essential tool for understanding the functions of genes within a living organism. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae provides an excellent model system for dissecting the genetics of histone function at the molecular and cellular levels. A simple gene organization, plus a wide variety of genetic strategies, makes it possible to directly manipulate a specific histone gene in vitro and then examine the expression of mutant alleles in vivo. Recent methods for manipulating the yeast histone genes have been designed to facilitate both side-directed analysis of structure/function relationships and unbiased screens targeted at specific functional pathways. The conservation of histone and nucleosome structure throughout evolution means that the principles discovered through genetic studies in yeast will be broadly applicable to the chromatin of more complex eukaryotes.
突变分析是理解活生物体中基因功能的重要工具。芽殖酵母酿酒酵母为在分子和细胞水平剖析组蛋白功能的遗传学提供了一个出色的模型系统。简单的基因结构，加上各种各样的遗传策略，使得在体外直接操纵特定的组蛋白基因，然后在体内检测突变等位基因的表达成为可能。最近用于操纵酵母组蛋白基因的方法旨在促进对结构/功能关系的侧翼定向分析以及针对特定功能途径的无偏筛选。组蛋白和核小体结构在整个进化过程中的保守性意味着通过酵母遗传学研究发现的原理将广泛适用于更复杂真核生物的染色质。
