FIGURE 3.

Metabolic and phenotypic changes occurring in Δpor1 cells. Schematic representation of the main changes occurring in yeast upon POR1 gene inactivation. Metabolic down-regulated, upregulated or unchanged pathways are displayed in red, green and white, respectively. The absence of yVDAC1 reduces the nucleotides trafficking within mitochondria, affecting the replication/expression of the mtDNA. The mitochondrial utilization of pyruvate, TCA cycle and the functioning of the electron transport system are strongly compromised. On the other hand, the cytosolic conversion of pyruvate into acetyl-coA is enhanced (PDH by-pass). The latter is addressed toward the synthesis of phospholipids, which are then stored into lipid drops (an energy reservoir). Furthermore, the newly synthetized phospholipids contribute to build plasma membrane and to increase the vacuole dimension. As a consequence, the size of Δpor1 cells is increased of about 30% in comparison to the wild-type.