Suppression Analysis
Corinne A. Michels · 2002
Suppressor analysis is used to identify genes that are functionally related to another gene of interest. A suppressor mutation is a mutation that counteracts the effects of another mutation thereby reducing its phenotypic effect. Suppressor mutations may be intragenic (in the same gene as the original mutation) or intergenic (in another gene). Intergenic suppressor mutations are either information suppressors or function suppressors. Function suppressors are most valuable for the genetic analysis of cellular processes. Methods for identifying and characterizing function suppressors are detailed. Function suppressors fall into three categories: by-pass, allele-specific, and suppression-by-epistasis suppressors. Models describing the possible functional interactions of these different classes of suppressor genes are presented. Concepts for interpreting the results of suppressor analysis are outlined. Suppression-by-overexpression is discussed.