Effect of static magnetic fields on the budding of yeast cells

✍ Scribed by Shigeki Egami; Yujiro Naruse; Hitoshi Watarai

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 272 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0197-8462
• DOI: 10.1002/bem.20599

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The effect of static magnetic fields on the budding of single yeast cells was investigated using a magnetic circuit that was capable of generating a strong magnetic field (2.93 T) and gradient (6100 T^2^ m^−1^). Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells were grown in an aqueous YPD agar in a silica capillary under either a homogeneous or inhomogeneous static magnetic field. Although the size of budding yeast cells was only slightly affected by the magnetic fields after 4 h, the budding angle was clearly affected by the direction of the homogeneous and inhomogeneous magnetic fields. In the homogeneous magnetic field, the budding direction of daughter yeast cells was mainly oriented in the direction of magnetic field B. However, when subjected to the inhomogeneous magnetic field, the daughter yeast cells tended to bud along the axis of capillary flow in regions where the magnetic gradient, estimated by B(d__B__/d__x__), were high. Based on the present experimental results, the possible mechanism for the magnetic effect on the budding direction of daughter yeast cells is theoretically discussed. Bioelectromagnetics 31:622–629, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.