A cross-species rescue by mating method to interrogate gene essentiality across the Saccharomyces genus

The field of budding yeast research has long been empowered by the vast array of genetic tools and community resources available. Rescue by mating is one useful tool that entails mating of meiotic spores directly post-germination. This minimal cell division mating process facilitates mating based screens studying the effects of otherwise haploid lethal gene deletions. In this study, we describe the successful application of rescue by mating across two different Saccharomyces species: S. cerevisiae and S. uvarum . This novel inter-species tool enables studies on the evolution of essential genes within the broader Saccharomyces genus.