SUMMARY: The distribution of Cd2+ taken up by Saccharomyces cerevisiae was examined by treatment of the organism with chitosan, which affects cell membrane permeability. In a Cd-sensitive strain, almost all of the Cd2+ bound to insoluble material, while in the Cd-resistant strain the Cd2+ was in the cytosol and bound to protein of low molecular weight (<30000). A Cd-resistant strain was also characterized by the decreased uptake of Cd2+