Zeta potential changes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during fermentative and respiratory cycles

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a type of yeast, widely used in diverse biotechnological food-beverage processes. Although the performance of an industrial fermentation process depends largely on the number of cells, it is necessary to consider the physiological state of the cultures. In this context, the aim of this study was to determine in a yeast culture how factors such as growth conditions affect surface properties at the different growth stages. Our results show that, S. cerevisiae spp. exhibits different zeta potential mean values along the exponential, post-diauxic and stationary growth phases. In addition, there were differences depending on whether they are in aerobic or anaerobic conditions. When the effect of pH on the media was studied, a different dependence of zeta potential at each stage reveals that in the living cells the surface potential depends on the interaction between secreted acids and the constituents of the surfaces, according to the growth conditions. In order to have a view at the cellular level, the zeta potential on individual cells by optical microscopy has been determined at different stages of culture in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. This single-cell method allows for the identification and following of the development of different cell subpopulations during each growth stage. Furthermore, the behavior of the dead cells provided evidence to relate the large negatively charged population with cell wall damage. Overall, the results obtained in the present work represent an important milestone for a novel application of zeta potential technique on yeast.