ATB: Epigenetics

Catalog description

This is an upper-level elective lab course for students majoring in Biology and those seeking to fulfill requirements for entrance into advanced degree programs. Using biochemical and genetic approaches with the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, students will characterize a large multisubunit protein complex that modifies chromatin and is involved in gene regulation. S. cerevisiae is a unicellular eukaryote better known as baker’s yeast that is a widely used biochemical and genetic model organism. Affinity chromatography will be used to produce purified preparations of wild-type and mutant protein complexes. The purified protein complexes will be compared using a wide variety of biochemical techniques, including Sypro Red-stained SDS-PAGE, western blot, enzymatic assay, and protein interaction assays. Yeast expressing the same mutants will be used in genetic experiments to evaluate the importance of the protein complex in cell growth and gene regulation in the cell.