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Comparative metabolic profiling of parental and inhibitors-tolerant yeasts during lignocellulosic ethanol fermentation

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Abstract

The metabolic responses of parental and inhibitors-tolerant yeasts in presence of the combination of three inhibitors (furfural, phenol and acetic acid) during ethanol fermentation were investigated by comparative metabolic profiling. Samples of parental and tolerant yeasts with/without three inhibitors in fermentation medium represented significantly different metabolic states. Further investigation on the specific responses of two strains revealed that the levels of most amino acids, inositol, and phenethylamine were dramatically increased in presence of inhibitors in parental yeast, while they kept relatively stable in tolerant yeast. It suggested that the protein degradation was increased and oxygen stress was induced by combined inhibitors in parental yeast. In addition, carbon metabolism (glycolysis and TCA) and pyrimidine ribonucleotides pathway (uracil and cytosine) were reduced in both strains in presence of combined inhibitors, which was considered as the general stress response. Higher levels of pyridimines in tolerant yeast suggested that they were responsible for counteracting the stress of combined inhibitors. These findings provided new insights into underlying mechanisms of yeast in resistance to the synergistic effects of inhibitors in lignocellulose hydrolysates.

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Abbreviations

3-PGA:

3-phosphoglycerate

PEP:

Phosphoenolpyruvate

G3P:

Glycerol-3-phosphate

Glyceral-3P:

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate

α-KG:

α-ketoglutarate

OAA:

Oxaloacetate

Val:

Valine

Ala:

Alanine

Leu:

Leucine

Ile:

Isoleucine

Pro:

Proline

Gly:

Glycine

Ser:

Serine

Thr:

Threonine

Pyro:

Pyroglutamatic acid

Asp:

Aspartic acid

Hypro:

Hydroxyproline

GABA:

γ-aminobutyric acid

Cys:

Cysteine

Glu:

Glutamic acid

Phe:

Phenyalanine

Asn:

Asparagine

Orn:

Orinine

Lys:

Lysine

Tyr:

Tyrosine

Trp:

Tryptophane

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the National Basic Research Program of China (“973” Program: 2007CB714301, 2011CBA00802), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Key Program: 20736006, Major International Joint Research Project: 21020102040).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Ministry of Education; Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Tianjin University, P. O. Box 6888, Tianjin, 300072, People’s Republic of China

    Ming-Zhu Ding, Xin Wang, Yang Yang & Ying-Jin Yuan

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  1. Ming-Zhu Ding
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  2. Xin Wang
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Correspondence to Ying-Jin Yuan.

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Ding, MZ., Wang, X., Yang, Y. et al. Comparative metabolic profiling of parental and inhibitors-tolerant yeasts during lignocellulosic ethanol fermentation. Metabolomics 8, 232–243 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-011-0303-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-011-0303-6

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