Endomitotic diploidization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by heat treatment during spore germination

Diploid cells with ability to mate, hereafter referred to as diploid mater cells, were obtained at significant frequencies by the heat treatment of haploid spores at the early germination stage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae heterothallic strain CG5M (a/alpha diploid cells heterozygous for five auxotrophic markers). The highest frequency (ca. 11%) of diploidization was obtained from viable cells after heat treatment at 55 degrees C for 10 min when spores were precultivated for 30 min in liquid medium to initiate the germination. The diploid mater cells obtained were homozygous for mating type and for the auxotrophic markers. The diploidization of a spore is thus concluded to be due to endomitotic events in germinating heat-treated spores.