SPELL - S. cerevisiae

Citation	Burrill DR, Silver PA. Synthetic circuit identifies subpopulations with sustained memory of DNA damage. Genes & development, 2011.
PubMed ID	21363961
Short Description	Synthetic circuit identifies subpopulations with sustained memory of DNA damage.
# of Conditions	3
Full Description	Differential responses to stimuli can affect how cells succumb to disease. In yeast, DNA damage can create heterogeneous responses. To delineate how a response contributes to a cell's future behavior, we constructed a transcription-based memory circuit that detects DNA repair to isolate subpopulations with heritable damage responses. Strongly responsive cells show multigenerational effects, including growth defects and iron-associated gene expression. Less-responsive cells exhibit increased mutation frequencies but resume wild-type behavior. These two subpopulations remain distinct for multiple generations, indicating a transmissible memory of damage. Collectively, this work demonstrates the efficacy of using synthetic biology to define how environmental exposure contributes to distinct cell fates.
Tags	DNA damage stimulus