Verification of a new gene on Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome III

We present verification of the existence of a previously unannotated, intron-containing gene of 134 amino acids (predicted molecular weight approximately 15.5 kDa) located on chromosome III of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Strains carrying a deletion of this gene, which we have called YCL012C, reveal no apparent phenotype. Orthologues of YCL012C are present in related species S. bayanus, S. paradoxus and Ashbya gossypii. Comparison with other fungal sequences reveals that orthologues of this gene are likely present in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Neurospora crassa and Cryptococcus neoformans as well, indicating that YCL012C is a widely conserved fungal gene.