英國研究人員成功繪制出幾十種用于釀酒,、制作面食和生物燃料的酵母菌株基因圖譜。這一研究成果有望應(yīng)用于釀酒等工業(yè),，也可為人類基因圖譜繪制提供借鑒,。
路透社11日報道，英國諾丁漢大學(xué)教授埃德·路易斯和他的同事以世界各地酵母菌株為研究對象,，繪制出其中70多種的基因圖譜,。
路易斯說，釀酒商可以據(jù)此選取優(yōu)質(zhì)酵母菌株,，釀造更多口味的啤酒和葡萄酒,，延長酒開蓋后的保質(zhì)期。
酵母基因與人體基因存在諸多類似之處,，也有許多變種,，一直用于癌癥、衰老和疾病研究,。因此這一成果對人體基因研究具有參考價值,。路易斯說，研究人員可以根據(jù)酵母基因編制計算機軟件,，用于掃描更為復(fù)雜的人體基因,。
這項研究成果發(fā)表在最新一期的英國《自然》雜志上。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Nature advance online publication 11 February 2009 | doi:10.1038/nature07743
Population genomics of domestic and wild yeasts
Gianni Liti1,9, David M. Carter2,9, Alan M. Moses2,3, Jonas Warringer4, Leopold Parts2, Stephen A. James5, Robert P. Davey5, Ian N. Roberts5, Austin Burt6, Vassiliki Koufopanou6, Isheng J. Tsai6, Casey M. Bergman7, Douda Bensasson7, Michael J. T. O'Kelly8, Alexander van Oudenaarden8, David B. H. Barton1, Elizabeth Bailes1, Alex N. Nguyen3, Matthew Jones2, Michael A. Quail2, Ian Goodhead2,10, Sarah Sims2, Frances Smith2, Anders Blomberg4, Richard Durbin2,9 & Edward J. Louis1,9
1 Institute of Genetics, Queen's Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
2 Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1HH, UK
3 Department of Cell & Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Ontario M5S 2J4, Canada
4 Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Lundberg Laboratory, University of Gothenburg, Medicinaregatan 9c, 41390 Gothenburg, Sweden
5 National Collection of Yeast Cultures, Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK
6 Division of Biology, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
7 Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
8 Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
9 These authors contributed equally to this work.
10 Present address: School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool LG9 3BX, UK.
Since the completion of the genome sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in 1996 (refs 1, 2), there has been a large increase in complete genome sequences, accompanied by great advances in our understanding of genome evolution. Although little is known about the natural and life histories of yeasts in the wild, there are an increasing number of studies looking at ecological and geographic distributions3, 4, population structure5, 6, 7, 8 and sexual versus asexual reproduction9, 10. Less well understood at the whole genome level are the evolutionary processes acting within populations and species that lead to adaptation to different environments, phenotypic differences and reproductive isolation. Here we present one- to fourfold or more coverage of the genome sequences of over seventy isolates of the baker's yeast S. cerevisiae and its closest relative, Saccharomyces paradoxus. We examine variation in gene content, single nucleotide polymorphisms, nucleotide insertions and deletions, copy numbers and transposable elements. We find that phenotypic variation broadly correlates with global genome-wide phylogenetic relationships. S. paradoxus populations are well delineated along geographic boundaries, whereas the variation among worldwide S. cerevisiae isolates shows less differentiation and is comparable to a single S. paradoxus population. Rather than one or two domestication events leading to the extant baker's yeasts, the population structure of S. cerevisiae consists of a few well-defined, geographically isolated lineages and many different mosaics of these lineages, supporting the idea that human influence provided the opportunity for cross-breeding and production of new combinations of pre-existing variations.
