Combining metabolic flux analysis with proteomics to shed light on the metabolic flexibility: the case of Hildenborough.

INTRODUCTION

Hildenborough is a gram-negative anaerobic bacterium belonging to the sulfate-reducing bacteria that exhibits highly versatile metabolism. By switching from one energy mode to another depending on nutrients availability in the environments" it plays a central role in shaping ecosystems. Despite intensive efforts to study energy metabolism at the genomic, biochemical and ecological level, bioenergetics in this microorganism remain far from being fully understood. Alternatively, metabolic modeling is a powerful tool to understand bioenergetics. However, all the current models for appeared to be not easily adaptable to various environmental conditions.

METHODS

To lift off these limitations, here we constructed a novel transparent and robust metabolic model to explain bioenergetics by combining whole-cell proteomic analysis with modeling approaches (Flux Balance Analysis).

RESULTS

The iDvu71 model showed over 0.95 correlation with experimental data. Further simulations allowed a detailed description of metabolism in various conditions of growth. Altogether, the simulations run in this study highlighted the sulfate-to-lactate consumption ratio as a pivotal factor in energy metabolism.

DISCUSSION

In particular, the impact on the hydrogen/formate balance and biomass synthesis is discussed. Overall, this study provides a novel insight into metabolic flexibility.