Response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to heavy element stress; Lead vs. uranium

Sakamoto, Fuminori  ; Onuki, Toshihiko; Fujii, Tsutomu*; Iefuji, Haruyuki*

In this study, we cultured Saccharomyces cerevisiae in media containing Pb or U with adjusted concentration and compared influence of Pb and 4U on the growth of S. cerevisiae. S. cerevisiae grew in media containing 1 10 or 1 10 M Pb, but did not grow in the medium containing 1 10 M Pb. S. cerevisiae did not grow in the medium containing 1 10 and 1 10 M U. These results indicated that inhibitory effect of U on the growth of S. cerevisiae is greater than that of Pb and that Pb and U obstruct the growth of S. cerevisiae by a different mechanism. S. cerevisiae did not grow in the medium containing 1 10 M natural U, but grew in the medium containing U with alpha radioactivity equivalent to 1 10 M natural U. These results indicated that the growth of S. cerevisiae is not influenced by chemotoxicity but radiotoxicity of 1 10 M Pb and U.