Development of the FUN-1 family of fluorescent probes for vacuole labeling and viability testing of yeasts.

A new family of fluorescent probes has been developed for assessing the viability and metabolic activity of yeasts. This class of halogenated unsymmetric cyanine dyes is exemplified by the FUN-1 [2-chloro-4-(2,3-dihydro-3-methyl-(benzo-1,3-thiazol-2-yl)- methylidene)-1-phenylquinolinium iodide] stain, a membrane-permeant nucleic acid-binding dye that has been found to give rise to cylindrical intravacuolar structures (CIVS) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biochemical processing of the dye by active yeasts yielded CIVS that were markedly red shifted in fluorescence emission and therefore spectrally distinct from the nucleic acid-bound form of the dye. The formation of CIVS occurred under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions and was highly temperature dependent. Treatment of yeasts with the nonmetabolizable glucose analog 2-deoxy-D-glucose reduced cellular ATP levels approximately 6-fold and completely inhibited CIVS formation. Under aerobic conditions, the formation of CIVS was abrogated by the cytochrome oxidase inhibitors azide and cyanide; however, the H+ transport uncoupler carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone inhibited CIVS formation under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Depletion of cellular thiols, including glutathione, with millimolar concentrations of N-ethylmaleimide, iodoacetamide, or allyl alcohol completely inhibited CIVS production. Marked reduction in the formation of CIVS by ethacrynic acid and sulfobromophthalein, inhibitors of glutathione S-transferase, suggested that dye processing can involve enzyme-mediated formation of glutathione conjugates. The conversion of FUN-1 by S. cerevisiae was studied quantitatively by using several techniques, including fluorometry, flow cytometry, and wide-field and confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy.