On the doublet formation in the flocculation process of the yeast cells

The combination of single cells to form doublets is regarded as the rate-limiting step of flocculation and requires the presence of surface proteins in active form. The process of activation of the flocculation proteins of yeast cells is described in the frame of the autocrine interaction regime (Science 224 (1984) 1312). The influence of several effectors (the cell efficiency to use sugars, the calcium content in the external medium and the probability that free cells collide each other under thermal motion conditions) on the initial rate of flocculation and on the fraction of remaining free cells in the steady state is briefly discussed in the paper. The present model offers a useful tool for further quantitative investigations in this topic. Also, it indicates qualitatively a way in which the regulation of flocculation might be controlled at the level of the expression of cell-surface activation abilities.