The GeneChip™ Yeast Genome 2.0 Array contains probe sets to detect transcripts from both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which are the two most commonly studied species of yeast. Providing comprehensive coverage of both species, the GeneChip Yeast Genome 2.0 Array includes approximately 5,744 probe sets for 5,841 of the 5,845 genes present in S. cerevisiae and 5,021 probe sets for all 5,031 genes present in S. pombe.

The evolutionary divergence between S. cerevisiae and S. pombe over 500 million years ago caused enough sequence divergence between the two species to require selection of separate probe sets for all genes, even the closest cross-species orthologs. Because both species are included on a single array, the GeneChip Yeast Genome 2.0 Array provides a flexible and affordable platform for researchers studying S. cerevisiae, S. pombe, or both species.

The sequence information for this array was selected from public data sources GenBank™ (May 2004) and Sanger Center (June 2004) for the S. cerevisiae and S. pombe genomes, respectively. Probe sets on the array include 11 oligonucleotide pairs to detect each transcript.