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The respiratory oscillation in yeast phase definitions and periodicity

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 7, page 1 (2006)Cite this article

A clue regarding the differences in period might be derived from a reduction in growth yield, which could result from differences in culture conditions. The short-period oscillation has a cell number that is roughly 5–6 fold higher than the long-period oscillation2. Although this could be caused by a number of factors, I am specifically concerned about potential reactor pressure caused by using an aeration rate of 1,000 mL per min. As the oscillation is thought to stem from individual cells rather than being caused by population effects, a reduction in cell density would increase the communication distance between the cells. As population synchrony is a function of communication distance9, I reason that this might be a determinant of periodicity. An increase in cell–cell communication distance or a disruption of synchronization mechanisms might also explain why mutations in central metabolic enzymes, such as glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, result in the loss of respiratory oscillation in the population. However, this does not necessarily indicate that an individual cell has lost its oscillatory behaviour, but rather that cell–cell synchrony cannot be achieved9. So, although new and refreshing opinions are important for the progression of science, these opinions need to be based on solid published science and open discussion of relevant work in order to be validated.

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Figure 1: The relationship between dissolved oxygen and oxygen-consumption rate during continuous culture of yeast.
Figure 2: A phase comparison by Fourier analysis of the data (from different studies) of the top oscillating genes (that is, those genes with the highest correlation to a sine wave).

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  1. Systems Biology Institute, 9s3 Shinanomachi Research Park, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8582, Japan

    Douglas B. Murray

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Murray, D. The respiratory oscillation in yeast phase definitions and periodicity. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 7, 1 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm1980-c2

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