Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Natural Variation In Yeast Stress Signaling Reveals Multiple Paths To Similar Phenotypes, Amanda N. Scholes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Natural environments are dynamic, and organisms must sense and respond to changing conditions. One common way organisms deal with stressful environments is through gene expression changes, allowing for stress acclimation and resistance. Variation in stress sensing and signaling can potentially play a large role in how individuals with different genetic backgrounds are more or less resilient to stress. However, the mechanisms underlying how gene expression variation affects organismal fitness is often obscure.

To understand connections between gene expression variation and stress defense phenotypes, we have been exploiting natural variation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae stress responses using a unique phenotype called acquired …

Thiol-Based Misfolding: Linking Redox Balance To Cytosolic Proteostasis, Ford Amy

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

The eukaryotic cytosolic proteome is vulnerable to changes in proteostatic and redox balance caused by temperature, pH, oxidants and xenobiotics. Cysteine-containing proteins are especially at risk as the thiol side chain is subject to oxidation, adduction and chelation by thiol-reactive compounds. All of these thiol-modifiers have been demonstrated to induce the heat shock response and recruit protein chaperones to sites of presumed protein aggregation in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, endogenous targets of thiol stress toxicity responsible for these outcomes are largely unknown. Furthermore, I hypothesize proteins identified as redox-active are prone to misfolding and aggregation by thiol-specific …