Effects of the kinetics of osmotic pressure variation on yeast viability.

The variation rate of the osmotic pressure increase was found to have a great effect on the viability of yeasts subjected to hyperosmotic stress. A low intensity of the increase rate of osmotic pressure could maintain an important viability of the cells (about 90 to 100%) even for very high levels of osmotic pressure (about 10(8) Pa). The viability level was found to be highly dependent on the physiological state of the cells: Variations in the properties of the cell membrane were supposed to be involved in such a dependence. (c) 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.