Our laboratory recently reported a novel prion [SWI+], in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. [SWI+] is the prion form of Swi1, a component of the SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex. Cells harboring [SWI+] exhibit a partial loss-of-function phenotype for SWI/SNF, which can be easily assayed by poor growth on some non-fermentable carbon sources such as raffinose.Swi1 is unique among yeast prion proteins for its nuclear localization and the fact that it comprises part of a large, multi-subunit protein complex. The discovery of [SWI+] demonstrates for the first time a link between prion function and chromatin remodeling,implying a possible role for prions in gene regulation. We believe that the unique features of this novel yeast prion will provide new insight into prion biology.

中文翻译：

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从新颖的 [SWI+] 系统对朊病毒生物学的新见解。


我们的实验室最近在芽殖酵母酿酒酵母中报告了一种新型朊病毒 [SWI+]。 [SWI+] 是 Swi1 的朊病毒形式，是 SWI/SNF 染色质重塑复合物的组成部分。含有 [SWI+] 的细胞表现出 SWI/SNF 部分功能丧失的表型，这可以通过在某些不可发酵碳源（例如棉子糖）上生长不良来轻松检测。Swi1 在酵母朊病毒蛋白中是独一无二的，因为它的核定位和事实上，它是一个大型多亚基蛋白质复合物的一部分。 [SWI+]的发现首次证明了朊病毒功能与染色质重塑之间的联系，暗示朊病毒在基因调控中可能发挥作用。我们相信，这种新型酵母朊病毒的独特特征将为朊病毒生物学提供新的见解。