A genome-scale metabolic reconstruction of Pseudomonas putida KT2440: iJN746 as a cell factory.

in BMC Systems Biology (2008), 2

BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas putida is the best studied pollutant degradative bacteria and is harnessed by industrial biotechnology to synthesize fine chemicals. Since the publication of P. putida KT2440's ... [more ▼]

BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas putida is the best studied pollutant degradative bacteria and is harnessed by industrial biotechnology to synthesize fine chemicals. Since the publication of P. putida KT2440's genome, some in silico analyses of its metabolic and biotechnology capacities have been published. However, global understanding of the capabilities of P. putida KT2440 requires the construction of a metabolic model that enables the integration of classical experimental data along with genomic and high-throughput data. The constraint-based reconstruction and analysis (COBRA) approach has been successfully used to build and analyze in silico genome-scale metabolic reconstructions. RESULTS: We present a genome-scale reconstruction of P. putida KT2440's metabolism, iJN746, which was constructed based on genomic, biochemical, and physiological information. This manually-curated reconstruction accounts for 746 genes, 950 reactions, and 911 metabolites. iJN746 captures biotechnologically relevant pathways, including polyhydroxyalkanoate synthesis and catabolic pathways of aromatic compounds (e.g., toluene, benzoate, phenylacetate, nicotinate), not described in other metabolic reconstructions or biochemical databases. The predictive potential of iJN746 was validated using experimental data including growth performance and gene deletion studies. Furthermore, in silico growth on toluene was found to be oxygen-limited, suggesting the existence of oxygen-efficient pathways not yet annotated in P. putida's genome. Moreover, we evaluated the production efficiency of polyhydroxyalkanoates from various carbon sources and found fatty acids as the most prominent candidates, as expected. CONCLUSION: Here we presented the first genome-scale reconstruction of P. putida, a biotechnologically interesting all-surrounder. Taken together, this work illustrates the utility of iJN746 as i) a knowledge-base, ii) a discovery tool, and iii) an engineering platform to explore P. putida's potential in bioremediation and bioplastic production. [less ▲]

Candidate states of Helicobacter pylori's genome-scale metabolic network upon application of "loop law" thermodynamic constraints.

in Biophysical Journal (2006), 90(11), 3919-28

Constraint-based modeling has proven to be a useful tool in the analysis of biochemical networks. To date, most studies in this field have focused on the use of linear constraints, resulting from mass ... [more ▼]

Constraint-based modeling has proven to be a useful tool in the analysis of biochemical networks. To date, most studies in this field have focused on the use of linear constraints, resulting from mass balance and capacity constraints, which lead to the definition of convex solution spaces. One additional constraint arising out of thermodynamics is known as the "loop law" for reaction fluxes, which states that the net flux around a closed biochemical loop must be zero because no net thermodynamic driving force exists. The imposition of the loop-law can lead to nonconvex solution spaces making the analysis of the consequences of its imposition challenging. A four-step approach is developed here to apply the loop-law to study metabolic network properties: 1), determine linear equality constraints that are necessary (but not necessarily sufficient) for thermodynamic feasibility; 2), tighten V(max) and V(min) constraints to enclose the remaining nonconvex space; 3), uniformly sample the convex space that encloses the nonconvex space using standard Monte Carlo techniques; and 4), eliminate from the resulting set all solutions that violate the loop-law, leaving a subset of steady-state solutions. This subset of solutions represents a uniform random sample of the space that is defined by the additional imposition of the loop-law. This approach is used to evaluate the effect of imposing the loop-law on predicted candidate states of the genome-scale metabolic network of Helicobacter pylori. [less ▲]

Candidate metabolic network states in human mitochondria. Impact of diabetes, ischemia, and diet.

in Journal of Biological Chemistry (2005), 280(12), 11683-95

The human mitochondrial metabolic network was recently reconstructed based on proteomic and biochemical data. Linear programming and uniform random sampling were applied herein to identify candidate ... [more ▼]

The human mitochondrial metabolic network was recently reconstructed based on proteomic and biochemical data. Linear programming and uniform random sampling were applied herein to identify candidate steady states of the metabolic network that were consistent with the imposed physico-chemical constraints and available experimental data. The activity of the mitochondrion was studied under four metabolic conditions: normal physiologic, diabetic, ischemic, and dietetic. Pairwise correlations between steady-state reaction fluxes were calculated in each condition to evaluate the dependence among the reactions in the network. Applying constraints on exchange fluxes resulted in predictions for intracellular fluxes that agreed with experimental data. Analyses of the steady-state flux distributions showed that the experimentally observed reduced activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase in vivo could be a result of stoichiometric constraints and therefore would not necessarily require enzymatic inhibition. The observed changes in the energy metabolism of the mitochondrion under diabetic conditions were used to evaluate the impact of previously suggested treatments. The results showed that neither normalized glucose uptake nor decreased ketone body uptake have a positive effect on the mitochondrial energy metabolism or network flexibility. Taken together, this study showed that sampling of the steady-state flux space is a powerful method to investigate network properties under different conditions and provides a basis for in silico evaluations of effects of potential disease treatments. [less ▲]