Tetrad Dissection in Fission Yeast

Wilber Escorcia; Susan L Forsburg

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-7546-4_16

Tetrad Dissection in Fission Yeast

Methods Mol Biol. 2018:1721:179-187. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7546-4_16.

Authors

Wilber Escorcia¹, Susan L Forsburg²

Affiliations

¹ Molecular and Computational Biology Section, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
² Molecular and Computational Biology Section, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. forsburg@usc.edu.

PMID: 29423857
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7546-4_16

Abstract

Tetrad dissection is a powerful tool in yeast genetics that allows the analysis of products of a single meiosis. With just a few tetrads, it is possible to determine linkage, identify unique phenotypes associated with double mutants, or assess specific meiotic defects. Strains are crossed on nitrogen-limiting medium for 3 days. With the help of a micromanipulator, ripe asci are isolated to spots 5 mm apart on a YES plate. Incubation at 36 °C for about 3-5 h is necessary for the ascus walls to break down. Once the spores are released, they are individually placed in a row containing four tetrad products, separated by 5 mm. The spores are then put in the appropriate temperature for the cross until colonies form, and phenotypes are assessed by replica plating or microscopic analysis.

Keywords: Fission yeast; Linkage analysis; Meiosis; Schizosaccharomyces pombe; Spore fate analysis; Tetrad analysis; Tetrad dissection.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Meiosis*
Mutation*
Schizosaccharomyces* / chemistry
Schizosaccharomyces* / physiology
Spores, Fungal* / chemistry
Spores, Fungal* / genetics