Involvement of lipids in solute transport in yeasts

The Plasma Membrane of Candida albicans: Its Relevance to Transport Phenomenon

“…The apparent KT values for all these amino acids were found to range between 100 and 300 flM [96]. The response of various amino acid permeases to altered lipid environment was, however, different ( [71,72,75]; see Chap. 9, this Vol.…”

“…We have recently shown that, similar to other yeasts, the proton gradient generated by this enzyme in C. albieans is the driving force for most of the nutrients which are taken up by the proton symport mechanism [73,74]. This enzyme is also responsible for the maintenance of intracellular pH which, in turn, regulates growth and differentiation of this yeast ( [75,76]; see below). With the availability of recent methods of plasma membrane preparation, some initial characterization of ATPase of C. albieans has been achieved.…”

“…It is established in this yeast that there is one 6.iLH + driven transport system (H + Isubstrate symport) common for most of the carbohydrates; however, the stoichiometry of H+ Isugar varies with the nature of sugar. We have also measured the electrochemical gradient ofH+ of C. albieans and attempted to correlate it with amino acids and sugar uptake rates [75,76]. By actual measurements of 6.1/; and 6.pH, it was possible to measure the electrochemical gradient of protons under a variety of conditions.…”

Lipids of Candida albicans

“…The recent realization that yeast can serve as an useful model for such studies has considerably changed the scenario. A number of studies demonstrate the involvement oflipids in the structure and function of yeast [reviewed in 67,69]. In the following section the effects oflipid on membrane functions of C. albicans are discussed.…”

“…Thus, considerable attention of many lipid biochemists has been focussed on the delineation of the role and significance oflipids in the structure and function of membranes. Yeast lipids have been subjected to reviews by several investigators [67,69,70,71]. However, studies related to the lipids of Candida albieans have been only recently initiated [26,27,34].…”