Analyzing P-bodies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Cytoplasmic processing bodies, or P-bodies, are RNA-protein granules found in eukaryotic cells. P-bodies contain non-translating mRNAs and proteins involved in mRNA degradation and translational repression. P-bodies, and the mRNPs within them, have been implicated in mRNA storage, mRNA degradation, and translational repression. The analysis of mRNA turnover often involves the analysis of P-bodies. In this chapter, we describe methods to analyze P-bodies in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, including procedures to determine whether a protein or mRNA can accumulate in P-bodies, whether an environmental perturbation or mutation affects P-body size and number, and methods to quantify P-bodies.