February 02, 2011
The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae reference genome sequence was updated today. This is the first major update of the S288C reference sequence since 1996, and 194 proteins have changed as a result of this update. The new version, called “S288C 2010”, was provided by Fred Dietrich of Duke University, and was determined using new high fidelity sequencing from an individual yeast colony. This update increases accuracy by using modern sequencing technology (Illumina HiSeq) and provides a valuable resource that will serve as the reference point from which to expand our annotation of additional S. cerevisiae strains. In the very near future, SGD will provide researchers with the genome sequences for several commonly used laboratory strains. This is a very exciting time. We will soon have the sequence of all major laboratory strains and hundreds of wild and commercial isolates. Comparative genomics with so many well-studied S. cerevisiae strains and closely-related species will enhance the awesome power of yeast genomics.