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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Analysis of Lipid Droplet Content in Fission and Budding Yeasts using Automated Image Processing
Published on: July 17, 2019
Reliable imaging of ATP in living budding and fission yeast
Masak Takaine1,2, Masaru Ueno3,4, Kenji Kitamura5
1Gunma University Initiative for Advanced Research (GIAR), Gunma University, Maebashi 371-8512, Japan masaktakaine@gunma-u.ac.jp satosh@waseda.jp.
Abstract:
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a main metabolite essential for all living organisms. However, our understanding of ATP dynamics within a single living cell is very limited. Here, we optimized the ATP-biosensor QUEEN and monitored the dynamics of ATP with good spatial and temporal resolution in living yeasts. We found stable maintenance of ATP concentration in wild-type yeasts, regardless of carbon sources or cell cycle stages, suggesting that mechanism exists to maintain ATP at a specific concentration. We further found that ATP concentration is not necessarily an indicator of metabolic activity, as there is no clear correlation between ATP level and growth rates. During fission yeast meiosis, we found a reduction in ATP levels, suggesting that ATP homeostasis is controlled by differentiation. The use of QUEEN in yeasts offers an easy and reliable assay for ATP dynamicity and will answer several unaddressed questions about cellular metabolism in eukaryotes.
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