ABSTRACT
This chapter provides biophysical information derived from studies on whole cells or broken cell wall preparations, but the content will also touch upon chemical data in order to circumscribe phenomena. It deals with the permeability of the yeast cell wall as exhibited by whole cells or broken cell wall preparations. In particular the extant studies attempt to document the aqueous space in cells which is accessible to a given solute. The technique was first put on a quantitative basis for yeast by E. J. Conway’s laboratory. The chapter reviews some of the more physical aspects of cell envelope structure and summarizes some of the practical techniques at hand. Studies of cell disruption using wall-degrading enzyme systems can provide much insight into the structure of the cell wall and the disposition of native enzymes within the envelope. The contribution of freezing is assumed that the abrasion of small ice crystals is the primary cause of disruption.
