Time-resolved magnetic resonance spectroscopic study of freeze-trapped yeast

Rapidly changing metabolic events in actively respiring yeast under strictly physiological conditions were approached by freeze-trapping analysis with 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A 50% wet weight/volume suspension of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was freeze-trapped with 20% ethylene glycol and 5% methanol as an antifreezing agent, and with 3 mM creatine phosphate as an external standard. A phosphorus spectrum of the freeze-trapped yeast was measured for 20 min at -18 degrees C at 202.46 MHz, since energy-related phosphate compounds in yeast were stable at least for 20 min at the temperature. The time scale, defined as (time required for NMR measurement)/(time for trapping), was expanded by the freeze-trapping analysis by 67-times, since the time for trapping was 0.3 min. The use of creatine phosphate as an external standard enabled exact quantification of phosphorus resonances. 31P-NMR study of freeze-trapped yeast affords a well time-resolved and highly sensitive method to study phosphate metabolism.