Orientation and characteristic movement of yeast cells induced by homogeneous electric field

A cylindrical yeast cell (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) oriented itself parallel or perpendicular to an alternating homogeneous electric field, depending upon the applied frequency. The turnover frequency was about 65 MHz for the living cells in a non-electrolyte solution but about 1.5 MHz for the dead cells in an electric field. Further, the lower the cell activity due to the refrigeration effect, the lower the turnover frequency was. Similar phenomena were observed for budding yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Therefore, these phenomena can be used to investigate the cell activity in the solution. We also found a second turnover frequency of about 15 MHz for the dead cylindrical cells. Moreover, when two Living cylindrical cells were placed in contact with each other, they exhibited characteristic movement at applied frequencies near the first turnover frequency.