Published online 13 November 2006. doi:10.1083/jcb.200608098
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $8.00
JCB, Volume 175, Number 4, 521-525
Why yeast cells can undergo apoptosis: death in times of peace, love, and war
Sabrina Büttner1,
Tobias Eisenberg1,
Eva Herker2,
Didac Carmona-Gutierrez1,
Guido Kroemer3, and
Frank Madeo1
1 Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria
2 Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, San Francisco, CA 94158
3 Apoptosis, Cancer, and Immunity Unit, Institut Gustave Roussy, Faculté Paris Sud-Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Paris XI, France
Correspondence to Frank Madeo: frank.madeo{at}uni-graz.at
The purpose of apoptosis in multicellular organisms is obvious: single cells die for the benefit of the whole organism (for example, during tissue development or embryogenesis). Although apoptosis has also been shown in various microorganisms, the reason for this cell death program has remained unexplained. Recently published studies have now described yeast apoptosis during aging, mating, or exposure to killer toxins (Fabrizio, P., L. Battistella, R. Vardavas, C. Gattazzo, L.L. Liou, A. Diaspro, J.W. Dossen, E.B. Gralla, and V.D. Longo. 2004. J. Cell Biol. 166:10551067; Herker, E., H. Jungwirth, K.A. Lehmann, C. Maldener, K.U. Frohlich, S. Wissing, S. Buttner, M. Fehr, S. Sigrist, and F. Madeo. 2004. J. Cell Biol. 164:501507, underscoring the evolutionary benefit of a cell suicide program in yeast and, thus, giving a unicellular organism causes to die for.
Abbreviation used in this paper: ROS, reactive oxygen species.

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