The influence of uncouplers on facilitated diffusion of sorbose in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Sorbose uptake in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, strain Delft 1, proceeds via mediated passive transport. In the cell sorbose is distributed in at least two compartments. Efflux studies showed that sorbose uptake in one of these compartments is not readily reversible. Uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation inhibit both transport velocity and steady-state uptake level. It could be shown that these two effects are caused by different modes of action of the uncouplers. None of these two effects could be ascribed to changes of the electrochemical H⁺ gradient or of the intracellular pH. It is suggested that the inhibition of uptake velocity is caused by binding of the uncoupler to the sorbose translocator, thus lowering the transport activity. The uncoupler binding site is probably located at the intracellular fragment of the carrier. The second effect, reduction of the steady-state uptake level, is probably due to blocking of sorbose influx into the compartment that exhibits poor reversibility.