Probe glucose

photoassimilation by mass spectrometry As described above, glucose and fructose can enhance the growth of H. modesticaldum in YE medium (Additional file 1: Figure S1). We have investigated the roles of glucose in the cultures grown on glucose and 0.4% yeast extract. In addition to the experimental evidence presented above, we determined the molecular mass of photosynthetic pigments of H. modesticaldum, BChl g and 81-OH-Chl a F (BChl g, 819 Da; 81-OH-Chl a F, 835 Da), in glucose-grown cultures by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. If glucose is photo-assimilated via the EMP pathway to produce cell materials of H. modesticaldum, BChl g and 81-OH-Chl a F should be labeled when 13C-labeled glucose (Glc) is added to the growth medium. To test the hypothesis, we obtain mass spectra of (B)Chls extracted from pyruvate-grown cultures as the positive control, since pyruvate has been established as check details the sole carbon source for H. modesticaldum. (B)Chls were extracted as reported

previously [10]. Because an acidic matrix (α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid) was used to prepare the learn more samples submitted to mass spectral analysis, peaks corresponding to demetallization of BChl g and 81-OH-Chl a F were detected GW786034 (upon demetallization (M-22; – Mg2+ + 2 H+): BChl g, 797 Da; 81-OH-Chl a F, 813 Da) (Figure 1C, upper panel, and Figure 1D, upper panel). Compared to the sample from unlabeled pyruvate-grown cultures (Figure 1C, upper panel), higher molecular masses corresponding to labeled (B)Chls (BChl g, 817 Da; 81-OH-Chl a

F, 833 Da) were detected using [3-13C]pyruvate as the sole carbon source (Figure 1C, lower panel). Similarly, Org 27569 we determined the molecular mass of (B)Chls from the cultures grown on unlabeled Glc (Figure 1D, upper panel) or [U-13C6]Glc (Figure 1D, lower panel) in YE medium. Because 0.4% yeast extract alone can support the growth of H. modesticaldum (Figure 2A) and produce (B)Chls, unlabeled (B)Chls were detected in the mass spectrum from cell cultures grown in YE medium containing [U-13C6]Glc (Figure 1D, lower panel). In contrast, less unlabeled BChl g was detected in the samples from cultures grown on [3-13C]pyruvate as sole carbon source (Figure 1C, lower panel). Nevertheless, The lower panel of Figure 1D shows that most of BChl g and 81-OH-Chl a F molecules are 13C-labeled in the samples from [U-13C6]Glc-grown cultures, since the peaks corresponding to 13C-labeled molecular mass of (B)Chls (BChl g, 807 Da; 81-OH-Chl a F, 823 Da, as well as high molecular mass peaks) cannot be detected in unlabeled glucose-grown sample (Figure 1D, upper panel). Together, our studies demonstrate that glucose is transported into cells and photoassimilated to produce cell materials. Figure 2 Growth of H. modesticaldum on various carbon sources. Cell growth on various carbon sources (A), and growth curve versus pyruvate consumption in pyruvate-grown cultures with and without bicarbonate included (B).