95% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbial Physiology and Metabolism
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1572004
Combined transcriptomics and metabolomics analyses reveal the molecular mechanism of heat tolerance in Pichia kudriavzevii
Provisionally accepted
Ning Wang 1
Lu Li 1
Yi Ma 1 Caihong Shen 2 Zonghua Ao 2 Chuan Song 2
Muhammad Aamer Mehmood 1 Puyu Zhang 1 Ying Liu 3 Xiaoke Sun 3
Hui Zhu 1*- 1 School of Bioengineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong, China
- 2 Luzhou Laojiao Co. Ltd., Luzhou, China
- 3 Sichuan Yibin Hengshengfu Liquor Industry Group Co., Ltd., Yibin, China
Pichia kudriavzevii is a prevalent non-Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast in baijiu brewing, exhibiting notable heat resistance characteristics. In this study, a Pichia kudriavzevii strain capable of withstanding high temperature of 50 ℃ was isolated from the daqu of strong flavor baijiu. The growth activity of this strain was examined at temperatures of 37 ℃, 40 ℃, 45 ℃, and 50 ℃. Its morphology was determined at 37 ℃, 45 ℃, and 50 ℃ under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Subsequently, we chose 45 ℃ as the high temperature condition for further transcriptomics and metabolomics 2 analyses, as this strain grew better at this temperature. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of the transcriptomics revealed that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were enriched in pathways such as ATP biosynthesis process and mitochondrion; Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis showed that DEGs were up regulated in oxidative phosphorylation.Utilising liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS), a total of 463 cationic differential metabolites and 352 anionic differential metabolites were detected and screened for differential substances that were closely related to heat tolerance (NAD+ and ADP); KEGG analysis showed that metabolites were up regulated in purine metabolism. Furthermore, correlation analyses of transcriptomics-metabolomics demonstrated a strong positive correlation between the metabolites NAD+ and ADP, and multiple DEGs of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. These results suggest that this heat tolerant strain can be able to counteract high temperature environment by up regulating energy metabolism (especially oxidative phosphorylation) to increase ATP production.
Keywords: Pichia kudriavzevii, Transcriptomics, Metabolomics, High Temperature Stress, heat tolerance mechanism
Received: 07 Feb 2025; Accepted: 26 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Li, Ma, Shen, Ao, Song, Mehmood, Zhang, Liu, Sun and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hui Zhu, School of Bioengineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.