RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 How Yeast Responds to Change JF Science Signaling JO Sci. Signal. FD American Association for the Advancement of Science SP ec39 OP ec39 DO 10.1126/stke.14ec39 VO 1 IS 4 A1 Ray, L. Bryan YR 2008 UL http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/1/4/ec39.abstract AB The origin of the rapid adaptive response of yeast cells to changes in environmental osmolarity has been unclear. Mettetal et al. (see the Perspective by Lipan) now show that increases in extracellular osmolarity activate the high-osmolarity glycerol signaling pathway, which changes transcription of particular target genes. By measuring the cellular response to pulses of medium with increased ionic strength, the authors were able to develop a predictive model of the dynamics of this regulatory system. Rather than changes in gene expression, which have often been suggested to be at the core of the response to osmotic shock, the fast response is actually dominated by a nontranscriptional response that probably involves altered glycerol transport. J. T. Mettetal, D. Muzzey, C. Gómez-Uribe, A. van Oudenaarden, The frequency dependence of osmo-adaptation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Science 319, 482-484 (2008). [Abstract] [Full Text] O. Lipan, Enlightening rhythms. Science 319, 417-418 (2008). [Summary] [Full Text]