Analysis of Cell Cycle Progression in the Budding Yeast S. cerevisiae

The cell cycle is an ordered series of events by which cells grow and divide to give rise to two daughter cells. In eukaryotes, cyclin–cyclin-dependent kinase (cyclin–Cdk) complexes act as master regulators of the cell division cycle by phosphorylating numerous substrates. Their activity and expression profiles are regulated in time. The budding yeast S. cerevisiae was one of the pioneering model organisms to study the cell cycle. Its genetic amenability continues to make it a favorite model to decipher the principles of how changes in cyclin-Cdk activity translate into the intricate sequence of substrate phosphorylation events that govern the cell cycle. In this chapter, we introduce robust and straightforward methods to analyze cell cycle progression in S. cerevisiae. These techniques can be utilized to describe cell cycle events and to address the effects of perturbations on accurate and timely cell cycle progression.