Time-dependent regulation of yeast glycolysis upon nitrogen starvation depends on cell history

In this study, the authors investigated how the glycolytic flux was regulated in time upon nitrogen starvation of cells with different growth histories. We have compared cells grown in glucose-limited chemostat cultures under respiratory conditions (low dilution rate of 0.1/h) to cells grown under respirofermentative conditions (high dilution rate of 0.35/h). The fermentative capacity was lower in cells grown under respiratory conditions than in cells grown under respirofermentative conditions, yet more resilient to prolonged nitrogen starvation. The time profiles revealed that the fermentative capacity even increased in cells grown under respiratory conditions during the first hours of nitrogen starvation. In cells grown under respirofermentative conditions the fermentative capacity decreased from the onset of nitrogen starvation. We have applied time-dependent Regulation Analysis to follow the fermentative capacity during nitrogen starvation. In both experiments, diverse categories of regulation were found. However, in the cells grown under respiratory conditions regulation was predominantly metabolic, whereas in the cells grown under respirofermentative conditions hierarchical regulation was dominant. To study the metabolic regulation, concentrations of intracellular metabolites, including allosteric regulators, were measured. The obtained results can explain some aspects of the metabolic regulation, but not all.