Adaptation of yeast cell membranes to ethanol.

A highly ethanol-tolerant Saccharomyces wine strain is able, after growth in the presence of ethanol, to efficiently improve the ethanol tolerance of its membrane. A less-tolerant Saccharomyces laboratory strain, however, is unable to adapt its membrane to ethanol. Furthermore, after growth in the presence of ethanol, the membrane of the latter strain becomes increasingly sensitive, although this is a reversible process. Reversion to a higher tolerance occurs only after the addition of an energy source and does not take place in the presence of cycloheximide.