Fractionation of selenium isotopes during biofortification of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the influence of metabolic labeling with 15N

Isotope fractionation of metals/metalloids in biological systems is an emerging research area that demands the application of state-of-the-art analytical chemistry tools and provides data of relevance to life sciences. In this work, Se uptake and Se isotope fractionation were measured during the biofortification of baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)—a product widely used in dietary Se supplementation and in cancer prevention. On the other hand, metabolic labeling with ¹⁵N is a valuable tool in mass spectrometry-based comparative proteomics. For Se-yeast, such labeling would facilitate the assessment of Se impact on yeast proteome; however, the question arises whether the presence of ¹⁵N in the microorganisms affects Se uptake and its isotope fractionation. To address the above-mentioned aspects, extracellularly reduced and cell-incorporated Se fractions were analyzed by hydride generation–multi-collector inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (HG MC ICP–MS). It was found that extracellularly reduced Se was enriched in light isotopes; for cell-incorporated Se, the change was even more pronounced, which provides new evidence of mass fractionation during biological selenite reduction. In the presence of ¹⁵N, a weaker preference for light isotopes was observed in both, extracellular and cell-incorporated Se. Furthermore, a significant increase in Se uptake for ¹⁵N compared to ¹⁴N biomass was found, with good agreement between hydride generation microwave plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (HG MP–AES) and quadrupole ICP–MS results. Biological effects observed for heavy nitrogen suggest ¹⁵N-driven alteration at the proteome level, which facilitated Se access to cells with decreased preference for light isotopes.

Graphical abstract