A yeast artificial chromosome (short YAC) is a vector used to clone large DNA fragments (larger than 100 kb and up to 3000 kb). It is an artificially constructed chromosome and contains the telomeric, centromeric, and replication origin sequences needed for replication in yeast cells.Extremely useful as one can get eukaryotic protein products with posttranslational modifications. Before the advent of the Human Genome Project, YACs and BACs were used to map sections of DNA of interest when hunting for specific genes.

See also : plasmid, cosmid, Bacterial artificial chromosome, human artificial chromosome.

Molecular biology

YAC | Yeast Artificial Chromosome | Cromosoma artificial de la levadura