DISCUSSION Previous studies on K+ transport by S. cerevisiae have been performed with fresh bakers' yeast previously aerated for several hours in deionized water. Under such conditions, yeast cells display a single K+ transport system with simple Michelis kinetics and a Km of approximately 0.5 mM (1). In the present study, we show that the kinetics oftransport can vary significantly depending upon the growth and assay conditions. Our experiments have been carried out with cells grown in a medium in which NH4+ and Na+ were replaced by arginine. When a relatively high K+ concentration (2 mM) was present during growth, the kinetics of transport were similar to those described previously: a single system following Michaelis kinetics, with Kms of 2 mM K+ and 6 mM Rb+. By contrast, when the K+ concentration during growth was reduced to 2 jiM, the kinetics of transport became complex, and the apparent Kms decreased to 20 ,uM K+ and 80 ,uM Rb+ In addition to the different affinities for substrate, the two modes of K+ transport were also different in temperature dependence, sensitivity to CCCP, and response to ATP depletion. Of these differences, the break in the Arrhenius plot was the most significant. Breaks in Arrhenius plots at the lipid-phase transition temperature are commonly found with transport systems, but they usually involve a change in the increase in transport rate rather than a decrease above the breakpoint. One example ofdeactivation above 30°C has been described for D-xylose transport in Rhodotorula glutinis and has been interpreted in terms of structural changes above the breakpoint (9). If one invokes a similar explanation for the break observed in micromolar K+ transport in S. cerevisiae, the results shown in Fig. 6 suggest structural or mechanistic differences in Rb+ transport between 2-,uM- and 2-mM-K+ cells. Further work will be required to establish the relationship