Abstract
Consumption of fermented Prunus mume fruit (maesil) sugar syrup raise a health concern due to the presence of the cyanogenic glucoside amygdalin. The goal of the present study was to investigate the amygdalin degradation potential and genome profile of the native microbes found in maesil syrup. The microbial profile analysis revealed that yeast is the predominant microorganism native to maesil syrup and that the isolated yeast cells showed a remarkable potential for amygdalin reduction (99.7%). Moreover, the reduction in amygdalin was inversely proportional to the growth of the isolated yeast. The whole-genome analysis revealed that the isolated yeast is Zygosaccharomyces rouxii (genome size 10 Mb, 39.25% of GC content). Of the 5250 genes (64.88%) predicted in the Z. rouxii genome, 5245 (99.90%) were annotated using NCBI Non-Redundant, UniProt, and InterProScan databases. The genome of the isolated Z. ruoxii harbored 2.03% of repeats and 0.68% of non-coding RNAs. Protein prediction indicated that β-glycosidases and hydroxynitrile lyase may play a key role in amygdalin degradation. The predicted degradation initiated by β-glycosidases that hydrolyze α-glucosidic bonds of amygdalin results in α-hydroxy nitriles (cyanohydrins) that are subsequently converted into carbonyl compounds (benzaldehyde) and hydrogen cyanide catalyzed by hydroxynitrile lyases. Present findings provide valuable data for constructing engineered microorganisms that can degrade amygdalin. Further analysis of Z. rouxii may elucidate the exact mechanism of amygdalin reduction in the production of maesil syrup.
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•Zygosaccharomyces rouxii exhibited nearly 100% of amygdalin degradation.•Amygdalin reduction was inversely proportional to Z. rouxii growth.•About 5250 genes predicted in Z. rouxii genome & 5245 (99.90%) were annotated.•β-glycosidases and hydroxynitrile lyase are key enzyme in amygdalin degradation.