Improved vectors for retron-mediated CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in .

site-directed mutagenesis is a powerful genetic tool for testing the effects of specific alleles in their normal genomic context. While the budding yeast possesses classical tools for site-directed mutagenesis, more efficient recent CRISPR-based approaches use Cas 'cutting' combined with homologous recombination of a 'repair' template that introduces the desired edit. However, current approaches are limited for fully prototrophic yeast strains, and rely on relatively low efficiency cloning of short gRNAs.

Natural variation in yeast reveals multiple paths for acquiring higher stress resistance.

Background: Organisms frequently experience environmental stresses that occur in predictable patterns and combinations. For wild Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast growing in natural environments, cells may experience high osmotic stress when they first enter broken fruit, followed by high ethanol levels during fermentation, and then finally high levels of oxidative stress resulting from respiration of ethanol. Yeast have adapted to these patterns by evolving sophisticated "cross protection" mechanisms, where mild 'primary' doses of one stress can enhance tolerance to severe doses of a different 'secondary' stress.

Nuclear translocation ability of Lipin differentially affects gene expression and survival in fed and fasting .

Lipins are eukaryotic proteins with functions in lipid synthesis and the homeostatic control of energy balance. They execute these functions by acting as phosphatidate phosphatase enzymes in the cytoplasm and by changing gene expression after translocation into the cell nucleus, in particular under fasting conditions. Here, we asked whether nuclear translocation and the enzymatic activity of Lipin serve essential functions and how gene expression changes, under both fed and fasting conditions, when nuclear translocation is impaired.