Cyclic-AMP content and trehalase activation in vegetative cells and ascospores of yeast

Abstract

Addition of glucose to yeast ascospores, glucose-grown vegetative cells from the stationary growth-phase or acetate-grown vegetative cells from the logarithmic growth-phase induces a rapid tenfold increase in the activity of trehalase. Trehalase activation is followed by a period of slow inactivation. It was possible to reverse the inactivation in the presence of glucose in all cell types immediately and completely by subsequent addition of a nitrogen source. This reactivation by nitrogen sources is in disagreement with proteolytic breakdown being responsible for trehalase inactivation in the presence of glucose. The addition of glucose induced in all cell types a rapid transient increase of the cellular cyclic-AMP content. In ascospores the increase of the cyclic-AMP level was about twofold, in glucose-grown stationary-phase vegetative cells four- to fivefold and in acetate-grown vegetative cells about sevenfold. Subsequent addition in the presence of glucose of a nitrogen source caused a new twofold increase of the cyclic-AMP level in ascospores. In the other two cell types however addition of a nitrogen source after the initial transient increase of the cyclic-AMP level did not produce a significant new increase. Although the data obtained for ascospores at first seemed to confirm the crucial role of the increase in the cyclic-AMP level for the activation of trehalase, the data obtained afterwards for vegetative cells indicated that it is possible to activate trehalase in yeast without a concomitant increase of the total cellular cyclic-AMP content.