Analysis of inositol metabolites produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in response to glucose stimulation

When cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are grown to stationary phase in medium containing [3H] inositol, significant amounts of radioactivity can be detected in phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate, and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. Addition of glucose to such cultures results in the generation of [3H]glycerophosphoinositol, [3H]glycerophosphoinositol 4-phosphate, and [3H]glycerophosphoinositol 4,5-bisphosphate in the extracellular medium. We found no evidence, however, for the stimulated formation of other inositol polyphosphates. This result suggests that glucose does not stimulate the "phospholipase C" signalling pathway established in higher eukaryotic cells but, in contrast, stimulates specific phospholipases A or B. A variety of cell division cycle (cdc) mutants have been studied to investigate the relationship between cell cycle progression and inositol metabolism in S. cerevisiae. Mutants which are defective for completion of cell cycle "START" (i.e. commitment to mitosis) show reduced formation of glycerophosphoinositol 4-phosphate and glycerophosphoinositol 4,5-bisphosphate in response to glucose. In contrast, cdc mutants which are defective in post-"START" processes show a larger glucose response than wild type cells. These results suggest that deacylation of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate may be coordinated with cell cycle control in S. cerevisiae.