High-throughput identification of dominant negative polypeptides in yeast

Dominant negative polypeptides can inhibit protein function by binding to a wild-type subunit or by titrating a ligand. Here we use high-throughput sequencing of libraries composed of fragments of yeast genes to identify polypeptides that act in a dominant negative manner, in that they are depleted during cell growth. The method can uncover numerous inhibitory polypeptides for a protein and thereby define small inhibitory regions, even pinpointing individual residues with critical functional roles.