Role of mature sphingolipids in yeast: new tools

Summary Sphingolipids of yeast have been described as being important for numerous cell biological phenomena such as heat resistance, endocytosis, stress resistance and many others. The genetic or pharmacological elimination of specific features or entire classes of sphingolipids has pinpointed specific sphingolipids as pivotal regulators in many processes. The report by Epstein et al . adds two new tools for such studies: a strain being completely resistant to aureobasidin A, a specific inhibitor of inositol phosphorylceramide synthase and a second strain where this synthase is deleted. The resulting phenotypes advocate new roles of complex sphingolipids in cytokinesis, lipid droplet biogenesis and cell survival.