Metabolomics Reveals the Relationship Between Ketogulonigenium Vulgare and Bacillus Megaterium

Ketogulonigenium vulgare and Bacillus megaterium were found to form a natural dual ecosystem and has been utilized to produce 2-keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KLG), precursor of vitamin C, for over 30 years. Understanding the metabolic interaction is critical to improving the vitamin C production. In this work, a comparative metabolomics analysis strategy was used to investigate the profiles of the molecular compositions of metabolites both in vivo and in vitro so as to elucidate the changes in metabolic interaction of this ecosystem. Significant changes in metabolites related to chemitaxis, central carbon metabolism and sporulation of Bacillus were explored.