Local and Acute Disruption of the Yeast Cell Surface.

Abstract

In nature, the yeast cell barrier encounters threats ranging from physical impact to abrupt changes in osmolality after rainfall. Genetic materials are protected from these environmental attacks by the rigid cell wall. Laboratory methods for challenging cell wall integrity have made an enormous contribution to the study of the yeast cell surface, but most have targeted whole-cell populations in place of single-cell analysis. This protocol describes pulse-laser-based acute disruption of the yeast cell surface, which enables the observation of single-cell response to submicron-scale damage.