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Citral and geraniol induce necrotic and apoptotic cell death on Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Abstract

Essential oils and their main components, monoterpenes, have been proven to be important alternatives for the control of pathogenic and spoiling microorganisms, but the mode of action of these compounds is poorly understood. This work aimed to determine the mode of action of citral and geraniol on the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae using a flow cytometry approach. Exponentially growing yeast cells were treated with different concentrations of citral and geraniol for 3 h, and evaluated for cell wall susceptibility to glucanase, membrane integrity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, mitochondrial membrane potential, and metacaspase activity. Results provide strong evidence that citral and geraniol acute fungicidal activity against Saccharomyces cells involves the loss of membrane and cell wall integrity resulting in a dose-dependent apoptotic/necrotic cell death. However, yeast cells that escape this first cell membrane disruption, particularly evident on sub-lethal concentration, die by metacaspase-mediated apoptosis induced by the accumulation of intracellular ROS. The deleted mutant on the yca1 gene showed high tolerance to citral and geraniol.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development-CNPq (431538/2016-6, and 304906/2017-4) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES, finance code 001). The authors acknowledge Cytogene Diagnósticos Moleculares Ltda. for access to flow cytometry equipment.

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  1. Institute of Biotechnology, University of Caxias do Sul, Caxias do Sul, Brazil

    Fernando J. Scariot, Mariliza S. Pansera, Ana Paula L. Delamare & Sergio Echeverrigaray

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  1. Fernando J. Scariot
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  2. Mariliza S. Pansera
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  3. Ana Paula L. Delamare
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  4. Sergio Echeverrigaray
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Correspondence to Fernando J. Scariot.

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Scariot, F.J., Pansera, M.S., Delamare, A.P.L. et al. Citral and geraniol induce necrotic and apoptotic cell death on Saccharomyces cerevisiae. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 37, 42 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-021-03011-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-021-03011-8

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