Model fungi articles within Nature

Featured

  • Letter |

    Novel protein-coding genes can arise either from pre-existing genes or de novo; here it is shown that functional genes emerge de novo through transitory proto-genes generated by widespread translational activity in non-genic sequences.

    • Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis
    • , Thomas Rolland
    •  & Marc Vidal

  • Letter |

    When double-strand breaks occur in DNA, the broken ends must undergo processing to prepare them for repair. Here, and in an accompanying study, this processing reaction has now been replicated in vitro using yeast proteins. Processing minimally requires the activities of a helicase, a nuclease and a single-strand-binding protein, although the reaction is enhanced by the addition of three factors that help to target the core complex and stimulate the unwinding activity.

    • Hengyao Niu
    • , Woo-Hyun Chung
    •  & Patrick Sung

  • Letter |

    Before mating, a yeast cell must detect a partner cell that is close enough and expresses sufficiently large amounts of a sex pheromone. The mating decision is an all-or-none, switch-like response to pheromone concentration. It is now shown that this decision involves the competition of one kinase and one phosphatase enzyme for multiple phosphorylation sites on a 'scaffold' protein. The results should prompt a re-evaluation of the role of related signalling molecules that have been implicated in cancer.

    • Mohan K. Malleshaiah
    • , Vahid Shahrezaei
    •  & Stephen W. Michnick

  • Letter |

    Complex heritable traits — such as human height and many human diseases — are caused by multiple genetic loci, each with small effects. It is hard to identify such loci, however, because of a lack of statistical power. Now, a method has been developed to overcome this problem. The method has been applied to chemical resistance traits and mitochondrial function in yeast, and has identified loci for each of these phenotypes.

    • Ian M. Ehrenreich
    • , Noorossadat Torabi
    •  & Leonid Kruglyak

  • Letter |

    Variation in the regulation of gene transcription between individuals is thought to be a major cause of phenotypic diversity. Here, individual differences in the binding of transcription-factor proteins are studied. A well-known transcription factor in the yeast pheromone pathway is used as an example, and the underlying genetic loci responsible for variation in its binding are mapped. The study reveals new insights into the mechanisms of gene regulation, and new regulators of the yeast pheromone pathway.

    • Wei Zheng
    • , Hongyu Zhao
    •  & Michael Snyder

Browse broader subjects

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Model fungi across other nature.com journals