title: Synthetic Genetic Arrays: Automation of Yeast Genetics.
abstract: Genome-sequencing efforts have led to great strides in the annotation of protein-coding genes and other genomic elements. The current challenge is to understand the functional role of each gene and how genes work together to modulate cellular processes. Genetic interactions define phenotypic relationships between genes and reveal the functional organization of a cell. Synthetic genetic array (SGA) methodology automates yeast genetics and enables large-scale and systematic mapping of genetic interaction networks in the budding yeast,Saccharomyces cerevisiae SGA facilitates construction of an output array of double mutants from an input array of single mutants through a series of replica pinning steps. Subsequent analysis of genetic interactions from SGA-derived mutants relies on accurate quantification of colony size, which serves as a proxy for fitness. Since its development, SGA has given rise to a variety of other experimental approaches for functional profiling of the yeast genome and has been applied in a multitude of other contexts, such as genome-wide screens for synthetic dosage lethality and integration with high-content screening for systematic assessment of morphology defects. SGA-like strategies can also be implemented similarly in a number of other cell types and organisms, includingSchizosaccharomyces pombe,Escherichia coli, Caenorhabditis elegans, and human cancer cell lines. The genetic networks emerging from these studies not only generate functional wiring diagrams but may also play a key role in our understanding of the complex relationship between genotype and phenotype.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada; Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kuzmin
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada; Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Costanzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada; Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada; Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057205:Automation, Laboratory / Q000379:methods*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D006801:Humans; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods*; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics*; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000235:genetics