Sporulation Culture of Spheroplasts Disturbs the Formation of Normal Spore Pairs in the Yeast Saccharomycodes ludwigii

抄録

In Saccharomycodes ludwigii, two spores with opposite mating types are tethered together by a ledge at the poles of a lemon-shaped apiculate cell. In the present study, we performed sporulation culture of spheroplasts of S. ludwigii in order to investigate how cell shape affects the formation of spore pairs. Each spore pair in whole cells or in spheroplasts was isolated using a micromanipulator, and the colonies derived from the germination of spore pairs were tested for sporulation ability and mating type. In terms of the results, among 55 colonies derived from spore pairs in whole cells, only one colony was haploid and the other 54 colonies were diploid. In contrast, among 55 colonies derived from spores in spheroplasts, 10 colonies were haploid and the other 45 colonies were diploid. These results, together with microscopic observations, suggest that the lemon-shaped cell morphology is important for the formation of normal spore pairs.