Credit: Jee Loon Foo et al.
Researchers have redesigned and synthesized a novel yeast that contains over 1 million base pairs marking the largest sythensized chromosome in Asia. Yeast is commonly considered a critical model organism thanks to its similarity to plants and animals at the cellular level.
Recent advancements have provided the methodology for researchers to redesign and construct various chromosomal sequences allowing researchers to study the link between gene variants and traits. Yeast is often a target of these research endeavors thanks to its similarity to plants and animals while being significantly simpler to manipulate. This simplicity allows researchers to better understand the impact of genetic variations and the potential mechanisms of genetic diseases.
The work, published in Cell Genomics, was conducted as part of the Synthetic Yeast Genome Project (Sc2.0). Sc2.0 is a global endeavor to redesign and construct all 16 yeast chromosomes. As part of the work, researchers synthesized chromosome XV, the largest synthesized chromosome in Asia.
To aid in the process of creating synthetic Chromosome XV (synXV), researchers developed a novel technology called CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mitotic recombination with endoreduplication (CRIMiRE) to streamline the process. This technology allows multiple synthetic chromosome segments to be assembled at the same time. After generating the yeast chromosome, CRIMiRE allows for the mixing of synXV with another yeast chromosome, generating various genetic combinations for analysis ultimately shedding light on the association between genetic variations and individual traits.
"The achievements from this work hold the promise of paving the way for future advancements in synthetic genomics, especially with larger and more complex chromosomes. This approach can be beneficial in deciphering the mechanisms of and understanding genetic diseases better, and potentially devising treatments," added Dr. Foo Jee Loon, the first author of the paper.