Real-time detection of hyperosmotic stress response in optically trapped single yeast cells using Raman microspectroscopy

Living cells survive environmentally stressful conditions by initiating a stress response. We monitored changes in the Raman spectra of optically trapped Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cell under normal, heat-treated, and hyperosmotic stress conditions. It is shown that when glucose was used to exert hyperosmotic stress, two chemical substances-glycerol and ethanol-can be monitored in real time in a single cell.