Modulation of the Golgi apparatus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae sec7 mutants as seen by three-dimensional electron microscopy

The three-dimensional configuration of the Golgi apparatus has been examined with the electron microscope in thick Golgi sections of Saccharomyces cerevisiae prepared from a wild-type strain and from sec7 mutants maintained for various periods of time at the nonpermissive temperature of 37°C and then returned to the permissive temperature of 24°C. Reduced osmium postfixation of glutaraldehyde fixed specimens stained intensely the content of Golgi elements and thus facilitated their three-dimensional characterization. In wild-type S. cerevisiae, the Golgi elements usually appeared as isolated networks of membranous tubules dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. Along such networks, distensions filled with stained material were similar in size to nearby secretory granules, suggesting that the latter formed by fragmentation of the Golgi elements. In sec7 mutants maintained at 37°C in low (0.1%) glucose medium, secretion granules progressively decreased in number and soon disappeared. Concomitantly the networks of Golgi tubules increased in size and complexity, lost their distensions, and then transformed into flattened sacules forming stacks of up to seven or eight saccules that were similar to the Golgi stacks seen in mammalian cells. However in contrast to the latter, connections between the saccules were evident and Golgi-associated small vesicles were generally absent. Following return to the permissive temperature (24°C), secretion granules reappeared, the Golgi stacks progressively decreased in size, and resumed their initial state of separated small tubular networks. Thus in sec7 mutant, grown at 37°C in low glucose medium, segregation of secretory granules is blocked. As a result, Golgi membranes accumulate to form a continuous system of stacked and interconnected saccules. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.