Image of the day: Ypk9 and Manganism

Link Between Parkinson’s Disease Genes and Manganese Poisoning

The Yeast PARK9 protein (Ypk9) is localized to the vacuole membrane. Shown are yeast cells expressing Ypk9 fused to the green fluorescent protein. Credit: Alessandra Chesi, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania.

Yeast PARK9 gene (YPK9) helps protect cells from manganese toxicity. Yeast cells missing the YPK9 gene (ypk9) grow normally under standard conditions (- Mn2+) but are much more sensitive to manganese (+ Mn2+) than wild-type (WT) cells. Credit: Alessandra Chesi, Ph.D.,  University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine