Determination of the role of polyphosphate in transport-coupled phosphorylation in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The role of polyphosphate in 2-deoxy-D-glucose transport was studied in yeast cells, pulse-labeled with [32P]orthophosphate, by comparing the concentrations and specific activities of polyphosphate, orthophosphate and 2-dGlc-phosphate. When 2-dGlc transport was measured under aerobic conditions, it appeared that polyphosphate replenished the orthophosphate pool, indicating that polyphosphate has, at least mainly, an indirect role in sugar phosphorylation. Also in cells with a reduced respiratory capacity, due to a treatment with antimycin A, no direct role for polyphosphate in 2-dGlc transport could be detected. Under these conditions, only a very limited breakdown of polyphosphate occurred, probably because of the small decrease in the orthophosphate concentration.