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Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Analysis of Lipid Droplet Content in Fission and Budding Yeasts using Automated Image Processing
Published on: July 17, 2019
Transport and retention mechanisms govern lipid droplet inheritance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Barbara Knoblach1, Richard A Rachubinski
1Department of Cell Biology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H7, Canada.
Abstract:
Lipid droplets are ubiquitous cellular structures involved in energy homeostasis and metabolism that have long been considered as simple inert deposits of lipid. Here, we show that lipid droplets are bona fide organelles that are actively partitioned between mother cell and daughter cell in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Video microscopy revealed that a subset of lipid droplets moves from mother cell to bud in an ordered, vectorial process, while the remaining lipid droplets are retained by the mother cell. Bud-directed movement of lipid droplets is mediated by the molecular motor Myo2p, while retention of lipid droplets occurs at the perinuclear endoplasmic reticulum. Lipid droplets are thus apportioned between mother cell and daughter cell at cell division rather than being made anew.
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