Open AccessThe mechanical properties of Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Author(s) -
Alexander Smith,
Zhibing Zhang,
C. R. Thomas,
Kennith E. Moxham,
Anton P. J. Middelberg
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.97.18.9871
Subject(s) - saccharomyces cerevisiae , modulus , elastic modulus , yeast , stationary phase , cell wall , compression (physics) , strain (injury) , phase (matter) , exponential growth , work (physics) , materials science , composite material , chemistry , mathematics , biology , thermodynamics , physics , biochemistry , chromatography , anatomy , mathematical analysis , organic chemistry
Cell-wall mechanical properties play an integral part in the growth and form ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae . In contrast to the tremendous knowledge on the genetics ofS. cerevisiae , almost nothing is known about its mechanical properties. We have developed a micromanipulation technique to measure the force required to burst single cells and have recently established a mathematical model to extract the mechanical properties of the cell wall from such data. Here we determine the average surface modulus of theS. cerevisiae cell wall to be 11.1 ± 0.6 N/m and 12.9 ± 0.7 N/m in exponential and stationary phases, respectively, giving corresponding Young's moduli of 112 ± 6 MPa and 107 ± 6 MPa. This result demonstrates that yeast cell populations strengthen as they enter stationary phase by increasing wall thickness and hence the surface modulus, without altering the average elastic properties of the cell-wall material. We also determined the average breaking strain of the cell wall to be 82% ± 3% in exponential phase and 80% ± 3% in stationary phase. This finding provides a failure criterion that can be used to predict when applied stresses (e.g., because of fluid flow) will lead to wall rupture. This work analyzes yeast compression experiments in different growth phases by using engineering methodology.