Intracellular levels of glycerol necessary for initiation of growth under salt-stressed conditions in a salt-tolerant yeast,Zygosaccharomyces rouxii

The relationship between the intracellular concentration of glycerol and the initiation of growth under salt-stressed conditions in the salt-tolerant yeast Zygosaccharomyces rouxii was studied. The results demonstrated that the accumulation of a definite intracellular concentration of glycerol is required prior to the initiation of growth under NaCl-stressed conditions. The initiation of growth in 3 M and 3.5 M NaCl media started at low intracellular concentrations such as 0.51 and 1.17 mol/l cell volume. Similar results were obtained under KCl- and MgCl2-stressed conditions. However, Z. rouxii was unable to grow under LiCl-stressed conditions, though it accumulated glycerol to the level required for the initiation of growth.