Endocytosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: internalization of enveloped viruses into spheroplasts

When vesicular stomatitis virus was incubated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae spheroplasts at 37 degrees C, part of the virus was internalized by the spheroplasts as shown by the following criteria. (i) The spheroplast-associated virus was protected from proteinase K digestion, which releases surface-bound virus by degrading the envelope glycoproteins. (ii) The spheroplast-associated virus was resistant to mild Triton X-100 treatment, which readily solubilizes the virus. The same results were obtained with Semliki Forest virus. Internalization of the two viruses followed linear kinetics up to 90 min at 37 degrees C. Internalization was concentration- and temperature-dependent. At 11 degrees C no uptake could be detected for at least 2 h. Homogenization and organelle fractionation protocols were designed for the S. cerevisiae spheroplasts to study the compartments into which the virions were internalized. Three compartments containing both marker viruses could be separated in density gradients. One coincided with vacuole markers, one banded at a slightly higher and one at a similar density to the plasma membrane markers. Thus, S. cerevisiae spheroplasts appear to have the capability of endocytosing particulate markers like viruses. The companion paper describes internalization of two soluble macromolecules, alpha-amylase and fluorescent dextran, into intact cells.