Relationship between Sensitivity to Ultraviolet Light and Budding in Yeast Cells of Different Culture Ages

Subpopulations of yeast cells, consisting of cells of different sizes and different percentages of budding cells, were prepared by centrifugation through sucrose solutions with linear density gradients of cultures at different phases of the growth cycle. Ultraviolet survival of these cells was determined by colony counting, and the survival rate was compared with the cells' respiratory rates. Individual budding cells and interdivisional cells, and also mother cells and daughter cells derived from irradiated budding cells, were isolated by the micromanipulation technique. The number of divisions in each cell was measured during a 21-hr incubation period immediately after irradiation. In the population in the logarithmic phase consisting of homogeneous cells of middle size, no difference in uv sensitivity was observed between mother cells and daughter cells, irrespective of mutual adhesion. Budding cell resistance was observed in the population in the transitional phase; this was due to the lesser uv sensitivity of daughter cells in the fresh medium. In the stationary phase, daughter cells were rather more sensitive than mother cells or interdivisional cells, so there was little difference in uv sensitivity between budding cells and interdivisional cells.