Budding yeast cell cycle analysis and morphological characterization by automated image analysis

Abstract

Budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a standard model system for analyzing cellular response as it is related to the cell cycle. The analysis of yeast cell cycle is typically done visually or by using flow cytometry. The first of these methods is slow, while the second offers a limited amount of information about the cell's state. This thesis develops methods for automatically analyzing yeast cell morphology and yeast cell cycle using high content screening with a high-capacity automated imaging system. The images obtained using this method can also provide information about fluorescently labelled proteins, unlike flow cytometry, which can only measure overall fluorescent intensity. The information about yeast cell cycle stage and protein amount and localization can then be connected in order to develop a model of yeast cellular response to DNA damage.