Abstract
FUS3 and STE2 expression levels can be used as reporters for signaling through the pheromone pathway in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we describe an optimized protocol to measure the expression levels of FUS3 and STE2 using quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). We describe the steps for comparing untreated and pheromone-treated yeast cells and how to quantify the changes in various deletion strains. The protocol can be applied to determine potential regulators of the pheromone pathway. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Garcia et al. (2021).