Figure 1.

Screening for novel essential factors of autophagy process. (A) WT and indicated ATG gene and VMS1 gene-deleted yeast cells were starved for 3 d in SD-N medium and then detected for cell viability by serial dilution spotting and growth on YPD plates. (B) GFP cleavage assays were performed to determine the vacuole degradation of cytosolic GFP-Atg8 by autophagy in WT and indicated yeast cells. Immunoblotting was done with anti-GFP and anti-Pgk1 antibodies. The positions of full-length GFP-Atg8 and cleaved free GFP are indicated. The Pgk1 protein was used as loading control. The cleaved GFP moiety indicates autophagic degradation. (C) Flow chart of the genome-wide screening for novel essential factors of autophagy in yeast cells