Mutant phenotypes provide important information about the in vivo function of gene products. In yeast it is possible to measure phenotypes for all non-essential gene deletions simultaneously (Giaever, et al.), although most methods are either expensive or labor intensive. To facilitate genome-wide mutant analysis under a large number of conditions, we have developed a simple, cost-effective strategy that use a digital camera and image analysis software to measure the growth of individual strains on standard agar plates (a similar method was recently published (Begley, et al.). Using this method we assayed the complete set of non-essential yeast gene deletions (4,700 mutants) under 22 environmental conditions.

In the near future, this section will contain:

• protocols and software
• assembly of our results into a global genetic network for S. cerevisiae
• comparison of results with predictions made by the yeast flux balance model