Open AccessAcetaldehyde Mediates the Synchronization of Sustained Glycolytic Oscillations in Populations of Yeast Cells
Author(s) -
Richard Peter,
Bakker Barbara M.,
Teusink Bas,
Dam Karel,
Westerhoff Hans V.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
european journal of biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1432-1033
pISSN - 0014-2956
DOI - 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1996.00238.x
Subject(s) - acetaldehyde , population , yeast , oscillation (cell signaling) , biophysics , extracellular , glycolysis , chemistry , cell , biology , biochemistry , metabolism , ethanol , demography , sociology
In the presence of cyanide, populations of yeast cells can exhibit sustained oscillations in the concentration of glycolytic metabolites, NADH and ATP. This study attempts to answer the long‐standing question of whether and how oscillations of individual cells are synchronized. It shows that mixing two cell populations that oscillate 180° out of phase only transiently abolishes the macroscopic oscillation. After a few minutes, NADH fluorescence of the mixed population resumes oscillations up to the original amplitude. At low cell densities, addition of acetaldehyde causes transient oscillations. At higher cell densities, where the oscillations are autonomous, 70 μM acetaldehyde causes phase shifts. Extracellular acetaldehyde is shown to oscillate around the 70 μM level. We conclude that acetaldehyde synchronizes the oscillations of the individual cells.