Univalent-cation-elicited acidification by yeasts.

Addition of univalent cations to sugar-metabolizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Lodderomyces elongisporus brought about a powerful acidification of the external medium with rates up to nearly 20 nmol H+ per min per mg dry wt. in S. cerevisiae, over 15 nmol in S. pombe, and 4.7 nmol in L. elongisporus. These rates were as much as 20 times, 5.5 times and 10.3 times, respectively. higher than in the absence of K+. Use of galactose-induced cells, of H(+)-ATPase-deficient mutants and observations over the entire growth curve indicated that the K+ effect on H+ extrusion is not connected with the H(+)-ATPase function as such but rather depends on metabolic reactions producing ATP. The effect has apparently nothing to do with the electrical potential across the plasma membrane.