When nutrients are low, cells of the budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) exit the mitotic cell cycle and enter meiosis. Researchers grew a culture of yeast cells in a nutrient-rich medium and then transferred them to a nutrient-poor medium to induce meiosis. Most of the yeast cells in the culture were in G1 of the cell cycle before being moved to the nutrient-poor medium to induce meiosis.
At different times after induction, the DNA content per cell was measured in a sample of the cells, and the average DNA content per cell was recorded in femtograms (fg; 1 femtogram = 1 × 10-15 gram). The data are shown in the table below.
There are 48 fg of DNA in the yeast cell at G2.
DNA doubles during the S phase.
There will be 24 fg of DNA in the zygote.
There are 24 fg of DNA in the yeast cell at G1.
There are 24 fg of DNA in a cell at the end of meiosis I.
There are 12 fg of DNA in a cell at the end of meiosis II.