A single living cell in environmentally stress conditions: real-time study using Raman spectroscopy

We apply Raman spectroscopy combined with optical tweezers to study the fermentation process in a single Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cell. This cell is widely used as a model for fundamental studies of cell processes including the cell stress response, as many fundamental cellular processes are conserved from yeast to human cells and corresponding genes can often complement each other. To investigate whether the peaks seen in the spectra of the cell under hyperosmotic stress could be assign to the specific chemicals expected for the fermentation process, we compared the time resolved spectra with the spectra of pure glycerol and ethanol using dilutions approaching intracellular concentrations