Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Analysis of Sclerotium rolfsii Fermented with Differential Carbon Sources

HIGHLIGHTS: The DEM L-arginine enriched in multiple pathways was significantly downregulated while UDP-glucose was significantly upregulated. Some DEGs regulating DNA polymerase subunits involved in amino acid metabolism and the synthesis of UDP sugars were significantly upregulated. Most of the rest were downregulated. Multi-omics analysis showed that DEGs and DEMs were mainly related to cell metabo-lism, focusing on carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and amino sugar and nucleoside sugar metabolism. ABSTRACT: Scleroglucan is obtained from Sclerotium rolfsii and is widely used in many fields. In this study, transcriptomics combined with metabolomics were used to study the global metabolites and gene changes. The results of the joint analysis showed that the DEGs (differentially expressed genes) and DEMs (differentially expressed metabolites) of SEPS_48 (fermented with sucrose as a carbon source for 48 h) and GEPS_48 (fermented with glucose as a carbon source for 48 h) comparison groups were mainly related to cell metabolism, focusing on carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and amino sugar and nucleoside sugar metabolism. We therefore hypothesized that the significant differences in these metabolic processes were responsible for the differences in properties. Moreover, the joint analysis provides a scientific theoretical basis for fungal polysaccharides biosynthesis and provides new insights into the effects of carbon sources on the production. As an excellent bioenergy and biological product, scleroglucan can be better applied in different fields, such as the food industry.