title: Effects of tellurite on growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
abstract: The effects of potassium tellurite on growth and survival of rho(+) and rho(0) Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains were investigated. Both rho(+) and rho(0) strains grew on a fermentable carbon source with up to 1.2 mM K(2)TeO(3), while rho(+) yeast cells grown on a non-fermentable carbon source were inhibited at tellurite levels as low as 50 muM suggesting that this metalloid specifically inhibited mitochondrial functions. Growth of rho(+) yeast cells in the presence of increasing amount of tellurite resulted in dose-dependent blackening of the culture, a phenomenon not observed with rho(0) cultures. Transmission electron microscopy of S. cerevisiae rho(+) cells grown in the presence of tellurite showed that blackening was likely due to elemental tellurium (Te(0)) that formed large deposits along the cell wall and small precipitates in both the cytoplasm and mitochondria.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genetics and Biophysics Adriano Buzzati-Traverso, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Pietro Castellino, 111, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Domenica R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Massardo
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pontieri
authors.forename: Loredana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maddaluno
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Stefano
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alifano
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Del Giudice
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation / Q000187:drug effects; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D013691:Tellurium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: C026899:potassium tellurate(IV); D002244:Carbon; C026660:tellurous acid; D013691:Tellurium