Plasma membrane ultrastructural differences between the exponential and stationary phases of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as revealed by freeze-etching.

Ultrastructural changes in the plasma membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during the exponential and stationary growth phases were studied by freeze-etching. In the exponential phase, plasma membrane-intercalated particles were distributed randomly. In the stationary phase, several areas of the plasma membrane showed a hexagonal arrangement of particles; these areas appeared to increase with the age of the culture. The polarity of the particles also changed partially: the E-face of the plasma membrane was only sparsely embedded with particles in exponential phase cells, but relatively densely embedded in stationary phase cells. Invaginations of the plasma membrane on the P-face were devoid of particles during both growth phases. Invaginations of the E-face were sparsely embedded with particles in exponential phase cells, but densely embedded with particles in stationary phase cells.