The Effects of Glucose and Sorbitol on Pore Formation in the Plasma Membrane of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Yeast during Electroporation

Abstract

This paper reports an analysis of the effects of the short-term (15 min) preincubation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells with glucose on pore formation in the plasma membrane during electroporation. Pore formation was assessed via the internalization of the two fluorescent dyes, that is, ethidium bromide (molecular radius ~0.8 nm) and FITC-dextran 70 kDa (molecular radius ~5.8 nm). It has been demonstrated that preincubation with glucose decreases the number of cells stained with ethidium bromide and increases the number of cells stained with FITC-dextran. The observed effects were enhanced in medium containing 1 M sorbitol. It was revealed that preincubation with glucose causes a significant increase in the internalization of both dyes in the control cells not subjected to electroporation. The conclusion was made that preincubation with glucose exerts effects on both the total number of pores and their size.