Abstract
Summary
Experiments were carried out to elucidate the effects of varying concentrations of potassium and sodium in growth medium on water and respective ion content of yeast. The resulting changes in intracellular potassium and sodium indicate that yeast is a poikilosmotic organism; internal osmotic pressure as indicated by total intracellular sodium and potassium may vary 2- or 3-fold. Sodium and potassium appear to be distributed into at least 2 intracellular fractions; a diffusible fraction which is readily removed by washing, and a fixed fraction relatively constant in amount which is difficult to remove by washing. Sodium can replace over 40% of the fixed potassium at high external sodium concentrations.
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