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Novel functions from chimeric proteins.
In Greek mythology, the chimera combined the physical characteristics of several different creatures to make a wholly new beast with attributes both like and unlike its parents. In two independent adaptive laboratory evolution experiments, a recombination event between two maltose sugar transporter genes from the yeast Saccharomyces eubayanus resulted in a chimeric transporter that gained the ability to carry larger maltotriose sugar molecules. The uptake of maltotriose by S. eubayanus is a critical step in being able to ferment a sugar whose consumption is important for the production of high-quality beer. See Baker, Hittinger.
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Image Credit: Graphic created by Emily Baker. The image of the chimera has been released into the public domain by its creator, Pearson Scott Foresman.
Citation: (2019) PLoS Genetics Issue Image | Vol. 15(4) May 2019. PLoS Genet 15(4): ev15.i04. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pgen.v15.i04
Published: May 1, 2019
Copyright: © 2019 Baker, Foresman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
In Greek mythology, the chimera combined the physical characteristics of several different creatures to make a wholly new beast with attributes both like and unlike its parents. In two independent adaptive laboratory evolution experiments, a recombination event between two maltose sugar transporter genes from the yeast Saccharomyces eubayanus resulted in a chimeric transporter that gained the ability to carry larger maltotriose sugar molecules. The uptake of maltotriose by S. eubayanus is a critical step in being able to ferment a sugar whose consumption is important for the production of high-quality beer. See Baker, Hittinger.
Download April's cover page.
Image Credit: Graphic created by Emily Baker. The image of the chimera has been released into the public domain by its creator, Pearson Scott Foresman.