Fluorescence microscopy of live cells is instrumental in deciphering the molecular details of autophagy. To facilitate the routine examination of yeast Atg proteins under diverse conditions, here we provide a comprehensive tool set, including (1) plasmids for the expression of GFP chimeras at endogenous levels for most Atg proteins, (2) RFP-Atg8 constructs with improved properties as a PAS marker, and (3) plasmids for the complementation of common yeast auxotrophic markers. We hope that the availability of this tool set will further accelerate yeast autophagy research.
Keywords: Atg, autophagy related; C,G,R,YFP, cyan, green, red and yellow fluorescent protein; Cvt, cytoplasm-to-vacuole targeting; DsRed eExpress 2; PAS, phagophore assembly site; Vps, vacuolar protein sorting.; autophagy; auxotroph; fluorescent protein; mKO, monomeric Kusabira Orange; pseudo-monomer; starter kit; yeast.