The yeast's 16 chromosomes consist of a 12 million-base sequence, and contain many genes similar to those found in other organisms, including humans. The size of this genome is six times that of the first complete bacterial sequence, reported last year. Researchers found approximately 6,000 genes and continue to investigate the function of these genes.
Many of the genes contain similar sequences and may even have similar functions. Originally, about 30% of the genes seem to have no known function, but that estimate is shrinking as genes from other organisms know to have a function are matched to yeast genes. Gene function is being studied by systematically altering each gene and then analyzing the changes in the mutant yeast cells.
Medical researchers are excited because some of the cloned human genes which are associated with disease show similarities with yeast genes. By mutating these genes in yeast and observing the effects, researchers should get clues to the functions of these genes in humans.
Source: Yeast genome sequence ferments new research" by Nigel Williams, Science, April 26, 1996.