Mechanical characterization of yeast cells: Effects of growth conditions

Abstract

Industrial biotechnology uses microbiological cells to produce a wide range of products. While the organisms in question are well understood regarding their genetic and molecular properties, less is known about their mechanical properties. Previous work has established a testing procedure for single Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells using a Nanoindenter equipped with a Flat Punch probe, allowing the compression between two parallel surfaces. The resulting force-displacement curves clearly showed the bursting of the cells and served to determine characteristic values such as the bursting force, bursting energy and relative deformation. This study examined the mechanical characteristics of yeast cells under the influence of varying cultivation parameters, namely the pH value, temperature, aeration rate, stirrer speed and culture medium composition. It was observed that only temperature and medium composition showed significant effect on the mechanical properties of the cells. Higher temperatures during cultivation caused lower bursting forces and energies. Further analysis of the data showed that the mechanical characteristics of the cells were only influenced by parameters which also had an influence on the growth rate. In conclusion, higher growth rates result in a lower mechanical strength of the yeast cells.