Staphylococcus aureus is one of the main foodborne pathogens that can cause food poisoning. Due to this reason, one of the essential aspects of food safety focuses on bacterial adaptation and proliferation under preservative conditions. This study was aimed to determine the metabolic changes that can occur following the exposure of S. aureus to either low temperature conditions or elevated concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl). The results revealed that most of the metabolites measured were reduced in cold-stressed cells, when compared to reference controls. The major reduction was observed in nucleotides and organic acids, whereas mannitol was significantly increased in response to low temperature. However, when S. aureus was exposed to elevated NaCl, a significant increase was observed in the metabolite levels, particularly purine and pyrimidine bases along with organic acids. The majority of carbohydrates remained constant in the cells grown under ideal conditions and those exposed to elevated NaCl concentrations. Partial least square discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) of the metabolomic data indicated that both, prolonged cold stress and osmotic stress conditions, generated cells with different metabolic profiles, in comparison to the reference controls. These results provide evidence that, when bacterial cells exposed to low temperatures or high concentrations of NaCl, experience in situ homeostatic alterations to adapt to new environmental conditions. These data supported the hypothesis that changes in metabolic homeostasis were critical to the adaptive processes required for survival under alterations in the environmental conditions.
Keywords: S. aureus; food storage; metabolic profiling; purine and pyrimidine bases; stress response.
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