FTIR spectroscopic analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell walls: study of an anomalous strain exhibiting a pink-colored cell phenotype.

A new strain, exhibiting an intriguing pink-colored cell phenotype, was obtained after an encoding alpha-glucosidase gene from an archaebacteria Thermococcus hydrothermalis was cloned by functional complementation of a mal11 Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant TCY70. The possible implications of the alpha-glucosidase on the cell wall were evaluated by infrared spectroscopy and data indicate a 30% decrease in mannoproteins and an increase in beta-glucans. The loss of mannoproteins was confirmed by experiments on cells deprived of peptidomannans. Modifications in the major components of the cell wall did not jeopardize cell viability. Such rapid optical spectroscopic method can be used to screen a wide range of yeast mutants.