Yeast aging study. Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Wild type and sgs1 null yeast were grown under DNA damaging (with MMS) conditions or without treatment to log phase and their transcriptional profiles compared . The human aging diseases Werner and Bloom syndromes are a result of mutation of the WRN and BLM genes, respectively. The SGS1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is homologous to the human WRN and BLM genes of the RecQ DNA helicase family. Deletion of SGS1 results in accelerated yeast aging and a reduction in life span as well as cell cycle arrest. We demonstrate that SGS1 deletion, DNA damage, and stress show similar transcriptional responses in yeast. Our comparative analysis of the genome-wide expression response of SGS1 deletion, stress and DNA damage indicates parallel transcriptional responses to cellular insult and aging in yeast. Keywords: other