The vast majority of theses in this collection are open access and freely available. There are a small number of theses that have access restricted to the WWU campus. For off-campus access to a thesis labeled "Campus Only Access," please log in here with your WWU universal ID, or talk to your librarian about requesting the restricted thesis through interlibrary loan.

Date of Award

Fall 2025

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Department or Program Affiliation

Biology

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Pollard, Dan A.

Second Advisor

Snyder, Annelise G.

Third Advisor

Wang, Adrienne M.

Abstract

Aging is a fundamental biological process and a major risk factor for a wide range of human diseases. Understanding the genetic and molecular basis of aging remains a key challenge in biology. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae serves as a powerful model for aging research, particularly for studying replicative lifespan, the number of times a cell divides before senescence. This thesis presents the development and validation of a scalable, high-throughput platform for aging analysis in yeast using Miniature Aging Devices, magnetic labeling, and fluorescence-based phenotyping. We optimized key components of this system, including strategies for flocculation mitigation, magnetic bead-based mother cell retention, and dual staining for cell age and viability. Our preliminary aging assays reveal strain-specific differences in aging phenotypes between S288c and YJM145 backgrounds and demonstrate the feasibility of integrating MADs with flow cytometry-based quantification. Additionally, gene deletions targeting FLO1 and FLO9, intended to reduce cell aggregation, unexpectedly increased flocculation, emphasizing the complexity of adhesion phenotypes. These results establish the MAD-based workflow as a robust experimental platform for future quantitative trait locus mapping using FACS-BSAseq. Ultimately, this work lays the groundwork for dissecting the genetic architecture of replicative aging and understanding how genetic networks controlling lifespan and aberrant gene expression evolve throughout the aging process.

Type

Text

Keywords

Aging, Yeast, Genetics, Biology, MAD, Flocculation

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1553684209

Subject – LCSH

Saccharomyces cerevisiae--Physiology; Saccharomyces cerevisiae--Genetics; Yeast--Genetics; Aging--Genetic aspects; Longevity--Genetic aspects; Cells--Aging--Research; Aging--Research--Methodology

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Download

Included in

Biology Commons

Share

COinS