Brownian motion of polyphosphate complexes in yeast vacuoles: characterization by fluorescence microscopy with image analysis

In the vacuoles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells, vividly moving insoluble polyphosphate complexes (IPCs) <1 µm size, stainable by a fluorescent dye, 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole (DAPI), may appear under some growth conditions. The aim of this study was to quantitatively characterize the movement of the IPCs and to evaluate the viscosity in the vacuoles using the obtained data. Studies were conducted on S. cerevisiae cells stained by DAPI and fluorescein isothyocyanate‐labelled latex microspheres, using fluorescence microscopy combined with computer image analysis (ImageJ software, NIH, USA). IPC movement was photorecorded and shown to be Brownian motion. On latex microspheres, a methodology was developed for measuring a fluorescing particle's two‐dimensional (2D) displacements and its size. In four yeast cells, the 2D displacements and sizes of the IPCs were evaluated. Apparent viscosity values in the vacuoles of the cells, computed by the Einstein–Smoluchowski equation using the obtained data, were found to be 2.16 ± 0.60, 2.52 ± 0.63, 3.32 ± 0.9 and 11.3 ± 1.7 cP. The first three viscosity values correspond to 30–40% glycerol solutions. The viscosity value of 11.3 ± 1.7 cP was supposed to be an overestimation, caused by the peculiarities of the vacuole structure and/or volume in this particular cell. This conclusion was supported by the particular quality of the Brownian motion trajectories set in this cell as compared to the other three cells. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.