Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Assessment of the effects of As(III) treatment on cyanobacteria lipidomic profiles by LC-MS and MCR-ALS

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are a group of photosynthetic, nitrogen-fixing bacteria present in a wide variety of habitats such as freshwater, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems. In this work, the effects of As(III), a major toxic environmental pollutant, on the lipidomic profiles of two cyanobacteria species (Anabaena and Planktothrix agardhii) were assessed by means of a recently proposed method based on the concept of regions of interest (ROI) in liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) together with multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares (MCR-ALS). Cyanobacteria were exposed to two concentrations of As(III) for a week, and lipid extracts were analyzed by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry in full scan mode. The data obtained were compressed by means of the ROI strategy, and the resulting LC-MS data sets were analyzed by the MCR-ALS method. Comparison of profile peak areas resolved by MCR-ALS in control and exposed samples allowed the discrimination of lipids whose concentrations were changed due to As(III) treatment. The tentative identification of these lipids revealed an important reduction of the levels of some galactolipids such as monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, the pigment chlorophyll a and its degradation product, pheophytin a, as well as carotene compounds such as 3-hydroxycarotene and carotene-3,3′-dione, all of these compounds being essential in the photosynthetic process. These results suggested that As(III) induced important changes in the composition of lipids of cyanobacteria, which were able to compromise their energy production processes.

Steps of the proposed LC-MS + MCR-ALS procedure

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ferrari SG, Silva PG, González DM, Navoni JA, Silva HJ. Arsenic tolerance of cyanobacterial strains with potential use in biotechnology. Rev Argent Microbiol. 2013;45(03):174–9.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Su S, Zeng X, Feng Q, Bai L, Zhang L, Jiang S, et al. Demethylation of arsenic limits its volatilization in fungi. Environ Pollut. 2015;204:141–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Phan K, Sthiannopkao S, Heng S, Phan S, Huoy L, Wong MH, et al. Arsenic contamination in the food chain and its risk assessment of populations residing in the Mekong River basin of Cambodia. J Hazard Mater. 2013;262:1064–71.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Wang Z, Luo Z, Yan C. Accumulation, transformation, and release of inorganic arsenic by the freshwater cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. Environ Sci Pollut Res. 2013;20(10):7286–95.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Joseph T, Dubey B, McBean EA. A critical review of arsenic exposures for Bangladeshi adults. Sci Total Environ. 2015;527–528:540–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. de Oliveira VE, Neves Miranda MAC, Soares MCS, Edwards HGM, de Oliveira LFC. Study of carotenoids in cyanobacteria by Raman spectroscopy. Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2015;150:373–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Yin X-X, Chen J, Qin J, Sun G-X, Rosen BP, Zhu Y-G. Biotransformation and volatilization of arsenic by three photosynthetic cyanobacteria. Plant Physiol. 2011;156(3):1631–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Cassier-Chauvat C, Chauvat F. Responses to oxidative and heavy metal stresses in cyanobacteria: recent advances. Int J Mol Sci. 2015;16(1):871.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Vermaas WFJ. Photosynthesis and respiration in cyanobacteria. In: Encyclopedia of life sciences. New York: Wiley; 2001. doi:10.1038/npg.els.0001670.

  10. Chen D, Yan X, Xu J, Su X, Li L. Lipidomic profiling and discovery of lipid biomarkers in Stephanodiscus sp. under cold stress. Metabolomics. 2013;9(5):949–59.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Hölzl G, Dörmann P. Structure and function of glycoglycerolipids in plants and bacteria. Prog Lipid Res. 2007;46(5):225–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Dörmann P, Benning C. Galactolipids rule in seed plants. Trends Plant Sci. 2002;7(3):112–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Li S, Xu J, Jiang Y, Zhou C, Yu X, Zhong Y, et al. Lipidomic analysis can distinguish between two morphologically similar strains of Nannochloropsis oceanica. J Phycol. 2015;51(2):264–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lima KMG, Bedia C, Tauler R. A non-target chemometric strategy applied to UPLC-MS sphingolipid analysis of a cell line exposed to chlorpyrifos pesticide: a feasibility study. Microchem J. 2014;117:255–61.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Gorrochategui E, Jaumot J, Tauler R. A protocol for LC-MS metabolomic data processing using chemometric tools. Protocol Exchange. 2015. doi:10.1038/protex.2015.102.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Jaumot J, Gargallo R, de Juan A, Tauler R. A graphical user-friendly interface for MCR-ALS: a new tool for multivariate curve resolution in MATLAB. Chemom Intell Lab Syst. 2005;76(1):101–10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Jaumot J, de Juan A, Tauler R. MCR-ALS GUI 2.0: new features and applications. Chemom Intell Lab Syst. 2015;140:1–12.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Gorrochategui E, Casas J, Porte C, Lacorte S, Tauler R. Chemometric strategy for untargeted lipidomics: biomarker detection and identification in stressed human placental cells. Anal Chim Acta. 2015;854:20–33.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Bedia C, Dalmau N, Jaumot J, Tauler R. Phenotypic malignant changes and untargeted lipidomic analysis of long-term exposed prostate cancer cells to endocrine disruptors. Environ Res. 2015;140:18–31.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Farrés M, Piña B, Tauler R. Chemometric evaluation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolic profiles using LC–MS. Metabolomics. 2015;11(1):210–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Grund SS, Hanusch K, Wolf HU. Arsenic and arsenic compounds. Ullmann’s encyclopedia of industrial chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH; 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Koek MM, Jellema RH, van der Greef J, Tas AC, Hankemeier T. Quantitative metabolomics based on gas chromatography mass spectrometry: status and perspectives. Metabolomics. 2011;7(3):307–28.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Merrill Jr AH, Sullards MC, Allegood JC, Kelly S, Wang E. Sphingolipidomics: high-throughput, structure-specific, and quantitative analysis of sphingolipids by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Methods. 2005;36(2):207–24.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Tauler R. Calculation of maximum and minimum band boundaries of feasible solutions for species profiles obtained by multivariate curve resolution. J Chemom. 2001;15(8):627–46.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. de Juan A, Jaumot J, Tauler R. Multivariate curve resolution (MCR). Solving the mixture analysis problem. Anal Methods. 2014;6(14):4964–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Olson JM, Romano CA. A new chlorophyll from green bacteria. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1962;59(3):726–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Rocchetta I, Küpper H. Chromium- and copper-induced inhibition of photosynthesis in Euglena gracilis analysed on the single-cell level by fluorescence kinetic microscopy. New Phytol. 2009;182(2):405–20.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Domonkos I, Kis M, Gombos Z, Ughy B. Carotenoids, versatile components of oxygenic photosynthesis. Prog Lipid Res. 2013;52(4):539–61.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Brazilian Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) and Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for a 1-year fellowship to Aline Marques in the Chemometrics Research Group at IDAEA-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain. K.M.G. Lima acknowledges the CNPq Grant (305962/2014-0) for financial support. This work was funded by grants from CNPq/Capes project (grant 070/2012) and by the CHEMAGEB project (FP/2007-2013)/ERC Grant Agreement no. 320737). The authors also thank Dr. Benjamín Piña and Claudia Rivetti (IDEAE/CSIC) for providing the cyanobacteria species control.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Chemistry and Chemometrics, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN-IQ), Natal, 59071-970, Brazil

    Aline S. Marques & Kássio M. G. Lima

  2. Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Diagnostic (IDAEA-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Carmen Bedia & Romà Tauler

Authors
  1. Aline S. Marques
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carmen Bedia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kássio M. G. Lima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Romà Tauler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Romà Tauler.

Ethics declarations

All authors have accepted the content of this paper and the principles of ethical and professional conduct. Sources of funding are given in the Acknowledgements section. This research has no conflict of interest and has not involved humans or animals

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Marques, A.S., Bedia, C., Lima, K.M.G. et al. Assessment of the effects of As(III) treatment on cyanobacteria lipidomic profiles by LC-MS and MCR-ALS. Anal Bioanal Chem 408, 5829–5841 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9695-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9695-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation