Anhydrobiosis in yeast: stabilization by exogenous lactose.

We have found that incubation in lactose solutions (0.75 M) of yeast culture Saccharomyces cerevisiae sensitive to dehydration damage increased the stability of the cells during dehydration. Simultaneously with this increase in viability, a decrease in plasma membrane permeability during rehydration was seen. Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to measure lipid phase transitions, we observed that the lactose treatment depressed the membrane phospholipid phase transition temperature in a sensitive culture of dry yeast. As a result, it leads to the decrease in the damages of molecular organization of membranes during rehydration of dry yeast cells, thus reducing leakage from the cells.