Construction of a GAL1-regulated yeast cDNA expression library and its application to the identification of genes whose overexpression causes lethality in yeast.

We have constructed a galactose-inducible expression library by cloning yeast cDNAs unidirectionally under control of the GAL1 promoter in a centromeric shuttle vector. Eleven independent libraries were made each with an average size of about 1 x 10(6) clones, about 50 times larger than the reported mRNA population in a yeast cell. From this library, LEU2 and HIS3 cDNAs were recovered at a frequency of about 1 in 10(4) and in 12 out of 13 cases these were expressed in a galactose-dependent manner. Sequence analysis of leu2 and his3 complementing cDNAs indicates that they contain all the coding sequence and much of the 5' untranslated region. To test the utility of the library for the identification of genes whose overexpression confers a specific phenotype, we screened 25,000 yeast transformants for lethality on galactose. Among 15 clones that showed galactose inducible lethality were cDNAs encoding structural proteins, including ACT1 (actin), TUB2 (beta-tubulin) and ABP1 (actin-binding protein 1), and genes in signal transduction pathways, including TPK1 (a cAMP-dependent protein kinase) and GLC7 (type 1 protein phosphatase). cDNAs overexpressing NHPB (nonhistone protein B) and NSR1 (nuclear sequence recognition protein) were also found to be lethal. Among these, ACT1 was isolated four times, and NSR1 three times. The useful features of this library for cDNA cloning in yeast by complementation, and for the identification of genes whose over-expression confers specific phenotypes, are discussed.