查看文章

Obtaining meaningful snapshots of the metabolome of microorganisms requires rapid sampling and immediate quenching of all metabolic activity, to prevent any changes in metabolite levels after sampling. Furthermore, a suitable extraction method is required ensuring complete extraction of metabolites from the cells and inactivation of enzymatic activity, with minimal degradation of labile compounds. Finally a sensitive, high-throughput analysis platform is needed to quantify a large number of metabolites in a small amount of sample. An issue which has often been overlooked in microbial metabolomics is the fact that many intracellular metabolites are also present in significant amounts outside the cells, and may interfere with the endometabolome measurements. Attempts to remove the extracellular metabolites with dedicated quenching methods often induce release of intracellular metabolites into the …