Characterization by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of sterols in Saccharomyces cerevisiae during autolysis

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 47; no. 7; pp. 2860 - 2864
• Main Authors: Le Fur, Y, Maume, G, Feuillat, M, Maume, B.F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.07.1999
• Subjects: Autolysis; Biological and medical sciences; esterification; esterified sterols; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Growth, nutrition, metabolism, transports, enzymes. Molecular biology; lysis; Microbiology; Mycology; quantitative analysis; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - chemistry; sterols; Sterols - chemistry; unsesterified sterols; Culture medium; Yeast; Biochemical analysis; Lipids; Biomass; Experimental study; Fungi; Autolysis; Gas chromatography; Ester; Enzymatic digestion; Ascomycetes; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Mass spectrometry; Thallophyta; Sterol
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf9806715

Yeast autolysis affects membrane stability and induces a release of vacuolar enzymes into the cell cytoplasm. Consecutively, it was important to study the evolution of sterol content in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for a fourteen day period of accelerated autolysis. Unesterified and esterified sterols were analyzed both in the biomass and in the autolysis medium. Ten sterols were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. A second group of six sterols was separated and partially characterized. Among the first group of 10 sterols, a dehydroergosterol was identified as ergosta-5,7,9(11),22-tetraen-3beta-ol, not yet characterized in S. cerevisiae. Yeast autolysis induced a decrease of esterified sterol content, especially first intermediates in the sequence of the ergosterol biosynthesis, as zymosterol. In contrast, the yeast autolysis resulted in the release of a low quantity of sterols into the medium. At the end of the fourteenth day of autolysis, 0.015% of the total sterol content of the initial biomass was found in the medium.