Cell surface structures in osmotically fragile mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae characterized by osmotic fragility showed a marked fibrillar structure on the inner wall surface when studied by two electron microscopic techniques, i.e. freeze-etching of whole native cells and metal shadowing of isolated cell walls. The walls of the mutant cells were more permeable to macromolecules than were those of the wild-type parental strain. The synthesis and assembly of (1----3)-beta-D-glucan wall microfibrils studied in protoplasts of mutant cells were not impaired. It is suggested that the osmotic fragility of the mutant cells is related to the deficiency of the wall structure as a consequence of the srb1 mutation affecting biogenesis of the amorphous (glucan) component.