The fate of linoleic acid on Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolism under aerobic and anaerobic conditions

Sample Preparation in Microbial Metabolomics: Advances and Challenges

Microbial metabolomics has gained significant interest as it reflects the physiological state of microorganisms. Due to the great variability of biological organisms, in terms of physicochemical characteristics and variable range of concentration of metabolites, the choice of sample preparation methods is a crucial step in the metabolomics workflow and will reflect on the quality and reliability of the results generated. The procedures applied to the preparation of microbial samples will vary according to the type of microorganism studied, the metabolomics approach (untargeted or targeted), and the analytical platform of choice. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the sample preparation workflow for microbial metabolomics, highlighting the pre-analytical factors associated with cultivation, harvesting, metabolic quenching, and extraction. Discussions focus on obtaining intracellular and extracellular metabolites. Finally, we introduced advanced sample preparation methods based on automated systems.

Species-Dependent Metabolic Response to Lipid Mixtures in Wine Yeasts

Lipids are essential energy storage compounds and are the core structural elements of all biological membranes. During wine alcoholic fermentation, the ability of yeasts to adjust the lipid composition of the plasma membrane partly determines their ability to cope with various fermentation-related stresses, including elevated levels of ethanol and the presence of weak acids. In addition, the lipid composition of grape juice also impacts the production of many wine-relevant aromatic compounds. Several studies have evaluated the impact of lipids and of their metabolism on fermentation performance and aroma production in the dominant wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but limited information is available on other yeast species. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of specific fatty acid and sterol mixtures on various non-Saccharomyces yeast fermentation rates and the production of primary fermentation metabolites. The data show that the response to different lipid mixtures is species-dependent. For Metschnikowia pulcherrima, a slight increase in carbon dioxide production was observed in media enriched with unsaturated fatty acids whereas Kluyveromyces marxianus fermented significantly better in synthetic media containing a higher concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids than monounsaturated fatty acids. Torulaspora delbrueckii fermentation rate increased in media supplemented with lipids present at an equimolar concentration. The data indicate that these different responses may be linked to variations in the lipid profile of these yeasts and divergent metabolic activities, in particular the regulation of acetyl-CoA metabolism. Finally, the results suggest that the yeast metabolic footprint and ultimately the wine organoleptic properties could be optimized via species-specific lipid adjustments.

The metabolism of lipids in yeasts and applications in oenology

Lipids are valuable compounds present in all living organisms, which display an array of functions related to compartmentalization, energy storage and enzyme activation. Furthermore, these compounds are an integral part of the plasma membrane which is responsible for maintaining structure, facilitating the transport of solutes in and out of the cell and cellular signalling necessary for cell survival. The lipid composition of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been extensively investigated and the impact of lipids on S. cerevisiae cellular functions during wine alcoholic fermentation is well documented. Although other yeast species are currently used in various industries and are receiving increasing attention in winemaking, little is known about their lipid metabolism. This review article provides an extensive and critical evaluation of our knowledge on the biosynthesis, accumulation, metabolism and regulation of fatty acids and sterols in yeasts. The implications of the yeast lipid content on stress resistance as well as performance during alcoholic fermentation are discussed and a particular emphasis is given on non-Saccharomyces yeasts. Understanding lipid requirements and metabolism in non-Saccharomyces yeasts may lead to a better management of these yeast to enhance their contributions to wine properties.

Glutathione peroxidase 2 (Gpx2) preserves mitochondrial function and decreases ROS levels in chronologically aged yeast

Glutathione peroxidase 4 (Gpx4) counteracts mitochondrial lipid peroxidation in mammals. In yeast, Gpx2 is orthologous of Gpx4, is localized in mitochondria, and reduces both inorganic and organic peroxides. However, a phenotype of oxidative stress hypersensitivity has not been observed with gpx2 deletion. We hypothesized that the absence of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in yeast membranes may mask an antioxidant role of Gpx2 in mitochondria. Thus, we tested the effects of PUFA on cell viability, mitochondrial function, ROS production, and mitochondrial fatty acid composition of a gpx2Δ mutant subjected to chronological aging. As expected, gpx2Δ mutation did not alter these parameters with respect to wild-type (WT) cells after 30 h growth, even in the presence of linolenic acid (C18:3), except for some activities of the electron transport chain (ETC) complexes. Conversely, aged gpx2Δ cells exhibited lower viability, impaired respiration, decreased ETC activities, and increased ROS generation in comparison to aged WT cells. These effects were exacerbated by C18:3, as gpx2Δ cells displayed residual respiration, full inhibition of ETC complexes, and a burst in ROS production on day 15 that decreased on day 30, although ROS remained several-fold higher than in WT cells. gpx2 was not involved in the preservation of PUFA levels, as no differences in mitochondrial C18:3 content were observed between WT and gpx2Δ cells. These results indicate that gpx2 is a late - acting antioxidant system that decreases mitochondrial ROS production and preserves ETC function, without being involved in the preservation of PUFA levels in mitochondria.

Effect of Unsaturated Fatty Acids on Intra-Metabolites and Aroma Compounds of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Wine Fermentation

The small changes in concentration of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) cause a significant influence on the aromatic component of wines. In this work, the effect of UFAs mixture (including linoleic, oleic, and α-linolenic acids) addition on intra-metabolites and aromatic compounds of two Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain EC1118 and BDX were investigated in red wine fermentation, respectively. The results showed that the pre-fermentative addition of UFAs significantly modified the physiological and energetic state of cells, and affected the levels of intra-metabolites in glycolysis pathway and TCA cycle, redox balance, ATP pool, fatty acids, and amino acids metabolism, which consequently altered the chemical and volatile composition of the wines. Different with the control wine, the wines produced by UFAs addition were characterized with higher amounts of glycerol, C6-alcohols and higher alcohols, and lower levels of acetic acid, medium-chain fatty acids, and acetate esters. Interestingly, the production of ethyl esters showed opposite profiles in different strains due to the distinct expression of EEB1, indicating that the effect of UFAs on ethyl esters syntheses is strain-specificity. Our results highlighted the effectiveness of modulating UFAs content in shaping aroma characteristics, and verified that fine adjusting the content of UFAs combined with inoculating proper yeast is a promising strategy to modulate the aromatic quality of wine, which probably provides an alternative approach to meet the expectations of wine consumers for diverse aromatic qualities.

Biofilm Formation by Histoplasma capsulatum in Different Culture Media and Oxygen Atmospheres

Histoplasma capsulatum is a dimorphic fungus that causes an important systemic mycosis called histoplasmosis. It is an infectious disease with high prevalence and morbidity that affects the general population. Recently, the ability of these fungi to form biofilms, a phenotype that can induce resistance and enhance virulence, has been described. Despite some efforts, data regarding the impact of nutrients and culture media that affect the H. capsulatum biofilm development in vitro are not yet available. This work aimed to study H. capsulatum biofilms, by checking the influence of different culture media and oxygen atmospheres in the development of these communities. The biofilm formation by two strains (EH-315 and G186A) was characterized under different culture media: [Brain and Heart Infusion (BHI), Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) with 2% glucose, Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and nutrient medium HAM-F12 (HAM-F12) supplemented with glucose (18.2 g/L), glutamic acid (1 g/L), HEPES (6 g/L) and L-cysteine (8.4 mg/L)] and oxygen atmospheres (aerobiosis and microaerophilia), using the XTT reduction assay to quantify metabolic activities, crystal violet staining for biomass, safranin staining for the quantification of polysaccharide material and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the observation of topographies. Results indicated that although all culture mediums have stimulated the maturation of the communities, HAM-F12 provided the best development of biomass and polysaccharide material when compared to others. Regarding the oxygen atmospheres, both stimulated an excellent development of the communities, however in low oxygen conditions an exuberant amount of extracellular matrix was observed when compared to biofilms formed in aerobiosis, mainly in the HAM-F12 media. SEM images showed yeasts embedded by an extracellular matrix in several points, corroborating the colorimetric assays. However, biofilms formed in BHI, RPMI, and DMEM significantly induced yeast to hyphae reversal, requiring further investigation. The results obtained so far contribute to in vitro study of biofilms formed by these fungi and show that nutrition promoted by different media modifies the development of these communities. These data represent advances in the field of biofilms and contribute to future studies that can prove the role of these communities in the fungi-host interaction.

Pre-fermentative supplementation of fatty acids alters the metabolic activity of wine yeasts

Fatty acids play important roles in the maintenance of cell membrane, viability and overall metabolism of wine yeasts (particularly Saccharomyces cerevisiae) during adverse winemaking conditions. We previously showed that linoleic acid supplementation markedly affect aroma compound production of S. cerevisiae wine strains. However, very little is known about how other commonly found fatty acids in grape juice modulate the growth and metabolism of S. cerevisiae. We aimed to determine the individual effect of five fatty acids on fermentation patterns and metabolism of two wine yeast strains (S. cerevisiae EC1118 and X5). Microvinification was performed at 15 °C by supplementing a grape juice (individually) with three different concentrations of saturated (palmitic acid), unsaturated (oleic, linoleic and γ-linolenic acids) and short-chain (hexanoic acid) fatty acids. Metabolite profiles of the resulting wines were determined using Gas-chromatography coupled to Mass-spectrometry (GC-MS). Our data show that the addition of γ-linolenic acid to the juice caused the production of higher amounts of amino and organic acids (except isoleucine and 2-oxoglutaric acid) in wines when fermented by EC1118, while palmitic acid supplementation showed similar trends when fermented by X5. The effect of linoleic acid was independent of yeast strains and we observed a global reduction of amino and organic acids (except pyruvic acid) while increased production of most of the fatty acids other than the supplemented ones. Our data clearly suggest that pre-fermentative supplementation of different fatty acids indeed influenced the growth and metabolism of wine yeasts in a different way. Thus, attention needs to be paid not only to the wine yeast strain used during the winemaking but also to the overall grape juice composition, including fatty acids, to obtain the desired wine characteristics.

Review of recent developments in GC-MS approaches to metabolomics-based research

BACKGROUND

Metabolomics aims to identify the changes in endogenous metabolites of biological systems in response to intrinsic and extrinsic factors. This is accomplished through untargeted, semi-targeted and targeted based approaches. Untargeted and semi-targeted methods are typically applied in hypothesis-generating investigations (aimed at measuring as many metabolites as possible), while targeted approaches analyze a relatively smaller subset of biochemically important and relevant metabolites. Regardless of approach, it is well recognized amongst the metabolomics community that gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is one of the most efficient, reproducible and well used analytical platforms for metabolomics research. This is due to the robust, reproducible and selective nature of the technique, as well as the large number of well-established libraries of both commercial and 'in house' metabolite databases available.

AIM OF REVIEW

This review provides an overview of developments in GC-MS based metabolomics applications, with a focus on sample preparation and preservation techniques. A number of chemical derivatization (in-time, in-liner, offline and microwave assisted) techniques are also discussed. Electron impact ionization and a summary of alternate mass analyzers are highlighted, along with a number of recently reported new GC columns suited for metabolomics. Lastly, multidimensional GC-MS and its application in environmental and biomedical research is presented, along with the importance of bioinformatics.

KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF REVIEW

The purpose of this review is to both highlight and provide an update on GC-MS analytical techniques that are common in metabolomics studies. Specific emphasis is given to the key steps within the GC-MS workflow that those new to this field need to be aware of and the common pitfalls that should be looked out for when starting in this area.