All-or-none interactions of inhibitors of the plasma membrane ATPase with Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The inhibitors of the yeast plasma membrane ATPase, Dio-9, miconazole, suloctidil, N,N'-dicyclohexycarbodiimide, triphenyltin and diethylstilbestrol provoke an all-or-none K+ loss from the cells. Some of the K+-depleted cells also show an increased permeability for the dye, Bromophenol blue, indicating that the barrier properties of these cells are drastically changed. Apart from this all-or-none process, a graded loss of K+ is also observed. These observations warn against the use of the inhibitors in studies aimed at evaluating the role of the ATPase in the energy transduction of membrane transport processes of yeasts.