Arsenic-Lipid Complex Formation During the Active Transport of Arsenate in Yeast

In studying formation of an arsenic-lipid complex during the active transport of 74As-arsenate in yeast, it was found that adaptation of yeast to arsenate resulted in cell populations which showed a deficient inflow of arsenate as compared to the nonadapted yeast. Experiments with both types of cells showed a direct correlation between the arsenate taken up and the amount of As-lipid complex formed. 74Asarsenate was bound exclusively to the phosphoinositide fraction of the cellular lipids. When arsenate transport was inhibited by dinitrophenol and sodium azide, the formation of the As-lipid complex was also inhibited. Phosphate did not interfere with the arsenate transport at a non-inhibitory concentration of external arsenate (10r M). The As-adapted cells but not the unadapted cells were able to take up phosphate when growing in the presence of 12 M arsenate.