Single gene alteration of plasma and mitochondrial membrane function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Some physiological properties of a multiple-drug-resistant mutant with a permeability barrier to chloramphenicol and its isogenic parental strain were compared. The ATPase specific activity of plasma and mitochondrial membranes isolated from the mutant strain was approximately 20% lower (P less than 0.001, Tables 1 and 2) than that of membranes isolated from the isogenic parental strain. Additional evidence of altered mitochondrial function was: (i) the enhanced growth of the parental strain was eliminted by the [rho-] state (Table 3); (ii) the mutant strain had a greater resistance to petite induction by ethidium bromide (Table 4); (iii) the mutant strain was unable to use a nonfermentable energy source for respiratory adaptation (Table 5). It is proposed that a single gene mutation has resulted in an alteration of some physiological properties of the plasma and mitochondrial membranes.