engleski

Yeast pathology - a systemic analysis of death and aging in budding yeast

Aging and death are integral parts of life and as such play a role in individual organism’s life history, influencing at the same time the structure of population and its evolution. Aging in yeast has been extensively studied by looking at both replicative and chronological lifespans, while death of yeast cells has been described in terms of necrosis- and apoptosis-like processes. Despite the fact that aging eventually results in death, organisms can also die prematurely because of the disease. In order to understand the possible repertoire of morphological changes preceding death, I have systematically analyzed all 1091 yeast essential gene mutants on the cellular level. I have quantitatively described the degree of essentiality for each essential gene, and documented the phenotypic characteristics of cells and the colonies as a vivid representation of cellular changes budding yeast mutants experience before they stop dividing and eventually die. Although some phenotypes of essential gene mutants can be explained using available knowledge about the genes in question, the complexity of dying patterns shows us that death on a single cell level is still poorly understood. Nevertheless, it is clear that the symptoms of the genetic disease in yeast differ from the symptoms of normal yeast cell aging. This research emphasizes the importance of single-cell analysis of complex biological phenomena and offers a starting point for the future exploration of the endogenous disease- and agingrelated mechanisms that cause death.

budding yeast; yeast pathology; death; aging; essential genes; dividing capacity; mating efficiency; single-cell analysis

nije evidentirano