Abstract
BackgroundPhenotypes are variable within species, with high phenotypic variation in the fitness and cell morphology of natural yeast strains due to genetic variation. A gene deletion collection of yeast laboratory strains also contains phenotypic variations, demonstrating the involvement of each gene and its specific function. However, to date, no study has compared the phenotypic variations between natural strains and gene deletion mutants in yeast.ResultsThe morphological variance was compared between 110 most distinct gene deletion strains and 36 typical natural yeast strains using a generalized linear model. The gene deletion strains had higher morphological variance than the natural strains. Thirty-six gene deletion mutants conferred significant morphological changes beyond that of the natural strains, revealing the importance of the genes with high genetic interaction and specific cellular functions for species conservation.ConclusionBased on the morphological analysis, we discovered gene deletion mutants whose morphologies were not seen in nature. Our multivariate approach to the morphological diversity provided a new insight into the evolution and species conservation of yeast.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-932) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Phenotypes are variable within species, with high phenotypic variation in the fitness and cell morphology of natural yeast strains due to genetic variation
Mosaic segregants are more variable than their pure parental strains To evaluate the morphological diversity in yeast, we focused on two aspects: the standard deviation in each parameter and the population expansion in the orthogonal phenotypic space that was degenerated in dimension from high-dimensional morphological traits
The nonessential gene deletion collection contained a single deletion in every gene, which highlighted the fact that approximately 50% of the deletion mutants had an abnormal morphology compared with their parental strains [6]
Summary
Phenotypes are variable within species, with high phenotypic variation in the fitness and cell morphology of natural yeast strains due to genetic variation. To date, no study has compared the phenotypic variations between natural strains and gene deletion mutants in yeast. Evolution has produced remarkably complex and diverse living organisms with different morphological phenotypes observed in shape, size, and other traits. This morphological variation is important for their survival during environmental disruption, and many biologists aim to clarify how organisms evolved their phenotypic variation throughout their long evolutionary history. Recent techniques have allowed quantitative analysis of the relationships between different morphological traits and gene deletions
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