The vacuole life cycle of yeast

Transmission electron microscopy is a powerful technique that allows us to peer deep inside cells. Dynamic cellular processes, like the fission and fusion of internal compartments, are frozen in time by an aldehyde-containing fixative, allowing us to get a glimpse of a population of near 100% genetic clones. The cell in this gallery is a wildtype strain (BY4716) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or budding yeast. As is evidenced in the high magnification zooms, the formation of multilamellar compartments is a normal event in the lives of vacuoles and related trafficking organelles.