Skip to main content
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1996 Aug;62(8):2832–2838. doi: 10.1128/aem.62.8.2832-2838.1996

Phosphorus-31 and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance studies of glucose and xylose metabolism in cell suspensions and agarose-immobilized cultures of Pichia stipitis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

E M Lohmeier-Vogel 1, D D McIntyre 1, H J Vogel 1
PMCID: PMC168068  PMID: 8702275

Abstract

The metabolism of glucose and xylose as a function of oxygenation in Pichia stipitis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell suspensions was studied by 31P and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The rate of both glucose and xylose metabolism was slightly higher and the production of ethanol was slightly lower in aerobic than in anoxic cell suspensions of P. stipitis. As well, the cytoplasmic pH of oxygenated cells was more alkaline than that of nonoxygenated cells. In contrast, in S. cerevisiae, the intracellular pH and the rate of glucose metabolism and ethanol production were the same under aerobic and anoxic conditions. Agarose-immobilized Pichia stipitis was able to metabolize xylose or glucose for 24 to 60 h at rates and with theoretical yields of ethanol similar to those obtained with anoxic cell suspensions. Cell growth within the beads, however, was severely compromised. The intracellular pH [pH(int)] of the entrapped cells fell to more acidic pH values in the course of the perfusions relative to corresponding cell suspensions. Of importance was the observation that no enhancement in the rate of carbohydrate metabolism occurred in response to changes in the pH(int) value. In contrast to P. stipitis, agarose-immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed a dramatic twofold increase in its ability to metabolize glucose in the immobilized state relative to cell suspensions. This strain was also able to grow within the beads, although the doubling time for the entrapped cells was longer, by a factor of 2, than the value obtained for log-phase batch cultures. Initially, the pH(int) of the immobilized cells was more alkaline than was observed with the corresponding S. cerevisiae cell suspensions; however, over time, the intracellular pH became increasingly acidic. As with immobilized P. stipitis, however, the pH(int) did not play a key role in controlling the rate of glucose metabolism.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (247.7 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bañuelos M., Gancedo C., Gancedo J. M. Activation by phosphate of yeast phosphofructokinase. J Biol Chem. 1977 Sep 25;252(18):6394–6398. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Does A. L., Bisson L. F. Characterization of Xylose Uptake in the Yeasts Pichia heedii and Pichia stipitis. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 Jan;55(1):159–164. doi: 10.1128/aem.55.1.159-164.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Kotyk A. Properties of the sugar carrier in baker's yeast. II. Specificity of transport. Folia Microbiol (Praha) 1967;12(2):121–131. doi: 10.1007/BF02896872. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Lang J. M., Cirillo V. P. Glucose transport in a kinaseless Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant. J Bacteriol. 1987 Jul;169(7):2932–2937. doi: 10.1128/jb.169.7.2932-2937.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Lohmeier-Vogel E. M., Hahn-Hägerdal B., Vogel H. J. Phosphorus-31 and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance studies of glucose and xylose metabolism in Candida tropicalis cell suspensions. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1995 Apr;61(4):1414–1419. doi: 10.1128/aem.61.4.1414-1419.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Lohmeier-Vogel E. M., Hahn-Hägerdal B., Vogel H. J. Phosphorus-31 and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance study of glucose and xylose metabolism in agarose-immobilized Candida tropicalis. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1995 Apr;61(4):1420–1425. doi: 10.1128/aem.61.4.1420-1425.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lohmeier-Vogel E., Skoog K., Vogel H., Hahn-Hägerdal B. 31P nuclear magnetic resonance study of the effect of azide on xylose fermentation by Candida tropicalis. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 Aug;55(8):1974–1980. doi: 10.1128/aem.55.8.1974-1980.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Nicolay K., Scheffers W. A., Bruinenberg P. M., Kaptein R. In vivo 31P NMR studies on the role of the vacuole in phosphate metabolism in yeasts. Arch Microbiol. 1983 Jul;134(4):270–275. doi: 10.1007/BF00407801. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Reibstein D., den Hollander J. A., Pilkis S. J., Shulman R. G. Studies on the regulation of yeast phosphofructo-1-kinase: its role in aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis. Biochemistry. 1986 Jan 14;25(1):219–227. doi: 10.1021/bi00349a031. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Skoog K., Hahn-Hägerdal B. Effect of Oxygenation on Xylose Fermentation by Pichia stipitis. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1990 Nov;56(11):3389–3394. doi: 10.1128/aem.56.11.3389-3394.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Verduyn C., Van Kleef R., Frank J., Schreuder H., Van Dijken J. P., Scheffers W. A. Properties of the NAD(P)H-dependent xylose reductase from the xylose-fermenting yeast Pichia stipitis. Biochem J. 1985 Mar 15;226(3):669–677. doi: 10.1042/bj2260669. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Visser W., Scheffers W. A., Batenburg-van der Vegte W. H., van Dijken J. P. Oxygen requirements of yeasts. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1990 Dec;56(12):3785–3792. doi: 10.1128/aem.56.12.3785-3792.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. den Hollander J. A., Ugurbil K., Brown T. R., Shulman R. G. Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the effect of oxygen upon glycolysis in yeast. Biochemistry. 1981 Sep 29;20(20):5871–5880. doi: 10.1021/bi00523a034. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES