The authors found that the transition to quiescence in yeast was accompanied by alterations in the cell wall that could be detected by flow cytometry. The authors first observed that quiescent cells treated with a fluorescent DNA dye displayed lower fluorescence than their growing counterparts. As the DNA content of cells entering quiescence is not expected to change upon the attainment of quiescence, this observation suggests a reorganization of the cell wall that renders it less permeable to dyes.