The capacity to transport potassium influences sodium tolerance in<i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>

Abstract

The capacity to transport potassium and to discriminate between the different alkali cations has been found to affect sodium tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mutants with a defective capacity to transport K+ were more sensitive to high concentrations of Na+ because they accumulated more Na+ and less K+ than wild-type cells which showed high discrimination between K+ and Na+.