The Natural Variation in Lifespans of Single Yeast Cells Is Related to Variation in Cell Size, Ribosomal Protein, and Division Time

There is a large variability in lifespans of individuals even if they are genetically identical and raised under the same environmental conditions. Our recent system wide study of replicative aging in baker’s yeast predicts that protein biogenesis is a driver of aging. Here, we address how the natural variation in replicative lifespan within wild-type populations of yeast cells correlates to three biogenesis-related parameters, namely cell size, ribosomal protein Rpl13A-GFP levels, and division times. Imaging wild type yeast cells in microfluidic devices we observe that in all cells and at all ages, the division times as well as the increase in cell size that single yeast undergo while aging negatively correlate to their lifespan. In the longer-lived cells Rpl13A-GFP levels also negatively correlate to lifespan. Interestingly however, at young ages in the population, ribosome concentration was lowest in the cells that increased the most in size and had shorter lifespans. The correlations between these molecular and cellular properties related to biogenesis and lifespan explain a small portion of the variation in lifespans of individual cells, consistent with the highly individual and multifactorial nature of aging.