Preface/Front Matter

Abstract

Ten years ago, two of us (J.R.B. and E.W.J.) along with Jeff Strathern presided over the production of the two-volume monograph The Molecular Biology of the Yeast Saccharomyces, an opus conceived during the heady days following the development of yeast transformation. Not accidently, this monograph coincided with a transition in the use of yeast as an experimental organism. Yeast transformation offered the prospect of executing precise genetic surgery on the organism, raising us from the role of observers to that of creators. All of us in the yeast field anticipated that this technical breakthrough, coupled with the elegant genetics and ease of manipulation of yeast, presaged an explosive growth in yeast molecular biology. At that time, we perceived the need for a resource that would not only provide a comprehensive review of the biology of Saccharomyces, but also highlight the issues and topics to which this new technology was likely to be applied. From the comments we received on the monograph, we appear to have been successful in achieving this goal.

Ten years later, we find that the explosive growth in yeast molecular biology has exceeded what even the most ardent proselytizers of the art would have dreamed. In part, this success followed from our monopoly on performing reverse genetics on a eukaryote organism, an advantage that was anticipated ten years ago. However, what was not anticipated was the extent to which basic biological processes have been obsessively conserved throughout the eukaryotic world. Each fundamental process—cell cycle progression and