title: Nonsense mutations in essential genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
abstract: A new method for isolating nonsense mutations in essential yeast genes has been used to develop a collection of 115 ochre mutations that define 94 complementation groups. The mutants are isolated in a genetic background that includes an ochre suppressor on a metastable plasmid and a suppressible colony-color marker on a chromosome. When the parental strain is plated on a rich medium, the colonies display a pattern of red, plasmid-free sectors on a white background. Mutants containing an ochre mutation in any essential yeast gene give rise to nonsectoring, white colonies, since cell growth is dependent on the presence of the plasmid-borne suppressor. Analysis of the data suggests that mutations are being recovered from a pool of approximately 250 genes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Riles
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Olson
mesh_terms: D005800:Genes, Fungal; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics*