Sterol synthesis and cell size distribution under oscillatory growth conditions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae scale‐down cultivations

Physiological responses of yeast to oscillatory environments as they appear in the liquid phase in large‐scale bioreactors have been the subject of past studies. So far, however, the impact on the sterol content and intracellular regulation remains to be investigated. Since oxygen is a cofactor in several reaction steps within sterol metabolism, changes in oxygen availability, as occurs in production‐scale aerated bioreactors, might have an influence on the regulation and incorporation of free sterols into the cell lipid layer. Therefore, sterol and fatty acid synthesis in two‐ and three‐compartment scale‐down Saccharomyces cerevisiae cultivation were studied and compared with typical values obtained in homogeneous lab‐scale cultivations. While cells were exposed to oscillating substrate and oxygen availability in the scale‐down cultivations, growth was reduced and accumulation of carboxylic acids was increased. Sterol synthesis was elevated to ergosterol at the same time. The higher fluxes led to increased concentrations of esterified sterols. The cells thus seem to utilize the increased availability of precursors to fill their sterol reservoirs; however, this seems to be limited in the three‐compartment reactor cultivation due to a prolonged exposure to oxygen limitation. Besides, a larger heterogeneity within the single‐cell size distribution was observed under oscillatory growth conditions with three‐dimensional holographic microscopy. Hence the impact of gradients is also observable at the morphological level. The consideration of such a single‐cell‐based analysis provides useful information about the homogeneity of responses among the population.