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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Refractive Index or Mass Spectrometric Detection for Metabolite Profiling in Lysate-based Cell-free Systems
Published on: September 23, 2021
Quantitative 2H NMR at natural abundance can distinguish the pathway used for glucose fermentation by lactic acid
Olivier Roger1, Régis Lavigne, Mohamed Mahmoud
1Groupe de Fractionnement Isotopique de Métabolismes, Laboratoire d'Analyse Isotopique et Electrochimique de Métabolismes, CNRS UMR6006, Université de Nantes, BP 99208, F-44322 Nantes, France.
Abstract:
For any given metabolic pathway, isotope redistribution coefficients (a(ij)) that characterize the specific derivation of each hydrogen atom can be defined. By using quantitative deuterium NMR, the redistribution of deuterium at natural abundance in lactic acid produced by the bacterial fermentation of glucose has been determined for each non-labile hydrogen atom of glucose or water and the hydrogen atoms of lactic acid. Distinct differences are observed in the lactic acid isolated from Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides that can be interpreted in terms of the different fermentative pathways used. Specifically, the affiliations observed between the H1, H3, and H4 positions of glucose with methyl and hydroxymethylene of lactic acid can give quantitative information on whether the glycolytic or the reductive pentose-phosphate pathway was involved in glucose catabolism.
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