Mycoplasmas are among the smallest prokaryotic microbes that can grow and proliferate on non-living media. They have reduced genomes, which may be associated with a concomitant reduction in their metabolic capacity.
This study investigated the metabolites of these two pathogenic bacteria from the middle and late stages of the logarithmic growth phase through liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry–based metabolomics and targeted energy metabolomics. The multivariate analysis was conducted to identify significant differences between the two important
A total of 173 metabolites were identified. Of them, 33 and 34 metabolites involved in purine and pyrimidine, pyruvate metabolism, and amino acid synthesis were found to significantly differ in the middle and late stages, respectively. The abundance of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, ADP, and pyruvate was higher in Mcc than in Mccp during the whole logarithmic period. Lactate was upregulated in slow-growing Mccp. The pH buffering agent N-[2-hydroxyethyl]piperazine-N′-[2-ethanesulfonic acid] added to media effectively prevented pH reduction and increase bacterial viability and protein biomass. The multivariate analysis revealed that the two
The study data are beneficial for understanding the metabolomic characteristics of these two crucial