Dependence of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae post-reproductive lifespan on the reproductive potential.

The lifespan of budding yeast cells is divided into two stages: reproductive and post-reproductive. The post-reproductive stage of the yeast's lifespan has never been characterized before. We have analyzed the influence of various mutations on the post-reproductive (PRLS) and replicative (RLS) lifespans. The results indicate that PRLS demonstrates an inverse relationship with RLS. The observed lack of differences in the total lifespan (TLS) (expressed in units of time) of strains differing up to five times in RLS (expressed in the number of daughters formed) suggests the necessity of revision of opinions concerning the use of yeast as a model organism of gerontology.