Watch out for your TRP1 marker: The effect of TRP1 gene on the growth at high and low temperatures in budding yeast

Abstract

TRP1 is a frequently used auxotrophic marker for genetic modifications and selections in trp-budding yeast strains, including the commonly used wild-type strain W303a. However, we found that introduction of the TRP1 gene into a trp-strain significantly affected vegetative growth at low and high temperatures. Therefore, caution should be needed when working in a trp-background strain and using the TRP1 marker to study stress response phenotypes, particularly when analyzing temperature sensitivities.