Zhang Qian, Liu Xulin

    zhqcindy@163.com

    A RESEARCH team from BGI, a Shenzhen-based genomics organization, announced Saturday that it had led the successful redesign and synthesis of chromosome II, one of the five chromosomes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    The team, together with researchers from Tianjin University and Tsinghua University, contributed to the international Synthetic Yeast Genome Project (Sc2.0 project).

    The project announced the completion of the de novo redesign and synthesis of five more chromosomes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, chromosomes II, V, VI, X and XII, on Thursday.

    The researchers also performed an in-depth, multi-dimensional analysis of the yeast strain, and confirmed that the phenotype of the synthetic yeast strain was consistent with that of the wild-type. The whole study was published as the cover story of the March 9 special issue of Science.

    The Sc2.0 project was formed by a consortium of a dozen leading yeast laboratories from the U.S., the U.K., China, France, Singapore and Australia, and set for itself the ambitious task of producing the first synthetic yeast genome (16 chromosomes ~14 Mbp) by 2018.

    “The Sc2.0 project not only promotes the rapid development of the technology, but also provides us with an opportunity to collaborate with leading international teams to learn and master genome synthesis technology together. We now have a more thorough understanding of the model organism yeast, which will help us explore its potential for industrial applications,” said Yue Shen, the first author of the synII paper and the director of the Genome Synthesis and Editing Platform at the China National Gene Bank.

    The team also collaborated with the University of Edinburgh to test physiological functions, including cell replication and division. The results indicate that the artificial S. cerevisiae genome is highly modifiable, and highly flexible for DNA element addition and deletion.

    This success in re-engineering the eukaryotic S. cerevisiae genome is being considered a milestone on the path toward creating synthetic life, after the completion of the synthetic prokaryotic genome.

    In 2014, the first of 16 chromosomes was synthesized (synIII), thereby marking an important first step. The next step requires an international collaboration to synthesize the other 15 chromosomes that are needed to generate the first fully synthetic yeast genome.

    The Sc2.0 team believes that, by re-engineering the S. cerevisiae genome, they can gain a deeper understanding of the biological mechanisms and responses of organisms, and their adaptability and evolutionary process in various environments. They hope that the outcome of the Sc2.0 project will help the world solve grand challenges related to health, food, energy and the environment.

    “The breakthroughs made in this project in recent years show the importance of international collaboration in science. This international project provides our young team with a great and unique chance to improve and acquire the vision of the development of this field and the spirit of international collaboration,” said Yang Huanming, the corresponding author of the synII paper and cofounder and chairman of BGI, at Saturday’s media conference.