Examining the Effects of Formaldehyde Damage on the Free Amino Acid Pools of M. extorquens
Methylobacterium extorquens is a methylotrophic bacteria that is found most commonly in soils and on the leaves of different plant species. Organisms that undergo methylotrophic metabolism reduce single-carbon compounds, and in the case of M. extorquens, produce formaldehyde as a metabolic intermediate. Formaldehyde is a well categorized toxin, damaging proteins and amino acids as a highly reactive compound. Since the organism is exposed to this toxin regularly during this pathway, the question arises: does formaldehyde induce significant damage to the amino acid pools of M. extorquens? To test this, M. extorquens was cultured in 4mM formaldehyde solution and sampled at varying time points. These samples were then measured using MS to determine if there were any significant differences in the retention times of 15 amino acids. There was no significant correlation in the data that was received, so the data was not conclusive enough to either support or refute the hypothesis. This may have happened as a result of natural variance in the bacteria, or possible error in the methods of lysing and the inability to successfully detect all 20 amino acids.