Life with 6000 Genes

Abstract

The genome of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been completely sequenced through a worldwide collaboration. The sequence of 12,068 kilobases defines 5885 potential protein-encoding genes, approximately 140 genes specifying ribosomal RNA, 40 genes for small nuclear RNA molecules, and 275 transfer RNA genes. In addition, the complete sequence provides information about the higher order organization of yeast's 16 chromosomes and allows some insight into their evolutionary history. The genome shows a considerable amount of apparent genetic redundancy, and one of the major problems to be tackled during the next stage of the yeast genome project is to elucidate the biological functions of all of these genes.

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Affiliated Institutions

• Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique FR
• German Cancer Research Center DE
• UCLouvain BE
• University of Manchester GB
• Stanford University US
• Sorbonne Université FR
• John Radcliffe Hospital GB
• McGill University CA
• Institut Pasteur FR
• University of Basel CH
• DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance DE
• Washington University in St. Louis US
• Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry DE
• École Normale Supérieure - PSL FR

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