Effects of zinc deficiency on the growth, proteins, and other constituents of yeast,Saccharomyces cerevisiae, cells

Abstract To carry out a series of experiments in order to analyze the effects of Zn deficiency on protein synthesis in higher plants, we used a budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as model organism. Yeast cells were cultured in a chemically defined Burkholder minimum medium with and without Zn. When the Zn concentration in the cells decreased to a level of less than 100 mg kg-1 dry weight, cell growth was depressed. The cells in the —Zn culture swelled, and after further culture, they formed clusters. Zinc deficiency enhanced the Ca concentration in the cells and did not affect the K and Mg concentrations. Zinc deficiency remarkably depressed the protein content of the cells. Some soluble proteins and peptides disappeared and some proteins and peptides appeared in the —Zn culture. pI of one protein shifted from 8.0 to 7.8 in the —Zn culture under nondenaturing conditions, and the N-terminal amino acid sequence of this protein showed a 100% homology with enolase (EC 4.2.1.11).