Intracellular distribution of amino acids in an slp1 vacuole-deficient mutant of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Amino acid pools were compared in a constructed diploid strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, SKD1, and a closely related strain, SKD2, carrying the slp1 mutation characterized by low pools of lysine and lacking a central vacuole. Cells of SKD2 grew more poorly than SKD1 but took up the same total amount of amino acids from the medium per cell although the profile differed between the two strains. Initially, the total pool was much higher in SKD1 than in SKD2 but the overall relative distribution between cytosol and vacuole was identical and mainly cytosolic even though the composition differed between the two strains. At the end of growth the amino acid concentration had increased and become predominantly vacuolar. Two days later the total pool in SKD1 had declined to the starting level but the intracellular distribution remained identical to that at the end of fermentation. The total concentration of amino acids in SKD2 continued to increase, particularly in the cytosol.