Role of phosphate in the regulation of the Pasteur effect in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The occurrence of the Pasteur effect in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in several conditions has been examined. In these conditions measurements of a series of metabolites potentially involved in the regulation of the effect were performed. These included, among others, adenine nucleotides, citrate, fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and phosphate. Only phosphate changed in a consistent way, increasing in anaerobiosis when the Pasteur effect occurred. It is concluded that, with the available data, only phosphate may be considered as a regulator of the Pasteur effect in this microorganism.