大肠杆菌木糖生物合成琥珀酸的代谢工程研究

目的:对大肠杆菌进行代谢网络改造,考察木糖好氧发酵生产琥珀酸的可行性。方法:以有氧条件下大肠杆菌木糖生物合成琥珀酸的代谢途径分析为基础,以大肠杆菌BL21为出发菌株,通过P1噬菌体一步敲除法敲除琥珀酸脱氢酶基因(sdhA)、磷酸转乙酰基酶基因(pta)、丙酮酸脱氢酶基因(poxB)及异柠檬酸裂解酶阻遏物基因(iclR),构建木糖好氧发酵生产琥珀酸的大肠杆菌工程菌JLS400(△poxB△pta△iclR△sdhA)。将携带磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶基因的质粒pJW225转化到JLS400中。结果:摇瓶发酵结果表明,构建的工程菌能以木糖为碳源,在好氧发酵条件下琥珀酸产率较高,副产物仅有少量乙酸和丙酮酸。结论:基因工程大肠杆菌JLS400pJW225的构建,为有氧条件下以木糖为原料生产琥珀酸的进一步研究奠定了基础。     

耐温谷氨酸棒杆菌的选育及其高温谷氨酸发酵代谢流量分析

采用基因组改组的方法选育获得的一株耐温谷氨酸棒杆菌F343,并比较了F343与其出发菌株S9114在39℃发酵谷氨酸时的发酵特性和代谢流量。结果表明:耐温菌F343的比生长速率、比谷氨酸积累速率可维持在较高的水平;通过发酵中后期代谢流量分析发现耐温菌F343在磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸(PEP)节点处,磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶(PEPc)催化的CO_2回补支路反应代谢流增加;α-酮戊二酸(KG)节点处,谷氨酸氢酶(GDH)催化的产生谷氨酸的支路代谢通量增加。此外,高温发酵谷氨酸时,耐温菌F343高温发酵谷氨酸过程产生的乳酸等副产物较出发菌株S9114少。通过改善种子质量,F343在高温发酵30 h产酸达到10.1%,较出发菌株提高67%。     

敲除aceE基因对猪链球菌丙酮酸代谢的影响

【目的】探究缺失编码丙酮酸脱氢酶蛋白的aceE基因对猪链球菌生长特性、三羧酸循环和丙酮酸代谢的影响。【方法】通过测量菌液的OD600值,绘制野生型菌株与aceE基因缺失突变株的生长曲线;利用试剂盒测定三羧酸循环和丙酮酸代谢旁路中乙酰CoA、琥珀酸CoA、延胡索酸、草酰乙酸、丙酮酸、乳酸和ATP的含量,通过荧光定量qRT-PCR确定柠檬酸合酶基因、苹果酸脱氢酶基因、琥珀酸脱氢酶基因、异柠檬酸脱氢酶基因、丙酮酸脱羧酶基因、乳酸脱氢酶基因、乙醇脱氢酶基因和乙醛脱氢酶基因的表达水平。【结果】与野生株相比,菌株ΔaceE在平台期OD600值下降;添加1g/L乙酸盐能够显著提升菌株ΔaceE平台期OD600值。菌株ΔaceE的丙酮酸含量上升,ATP含量下降;三羧酸循环代谢中乙酰CoA、琥珀酸CoA、延胡索酸含量降低;柠檬酸合酶基因和苹果酸脱氢酶基因表达水平上升,琥珀酸脱氢酶基因和异柠檬酸脱氢酶基因表达水平下调;在丙酮酸代谢旁路中丙酮酸脱羧酶基因、乳酸脱氢酶基因、乙醇脱氢酶基因和乙醛脱氢酶基因表达水平上升。【结论】结果显示,菌株ΔaceE三羧酸循环活性降低,虽然能够通过PDH旁路将部分丙酮酸分解为乙...     

不同浓度外源乙酸钠对耐乙酸大肠埃希菌DA19代谢和关键酶酶活的影响

为研究外源乙酸钠对大肠埃希菌DA19生长代谢的影响,将该菌株在氮源限制基本培养基及添加不同浓度乙酸钠的氮源限制基本培养基中连续培养,测定稳态时生长代谢参数和胞内关键酶酶活。与MN培养基相比,葡萄糖比消耗速率和延胡索酸比生成速率随外源乙酸钠质量浓度增加而逐渐下降,丙酮酸比生成速率则随外源乙酸钠质量浓度增加而明显增加,而乙酸比生成速率则明显降低(除9 g/L乙酸钠外)。磷酸果糖激酶、异柠檬酸脱氢酶、异柠檬酸裂解酶、苹果酸脱氢酶、磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶和乙酸激酶酶活随外源乙酸钠质量浓度增加而呈先下降后上升的趋势,而6-磷酸葡萄糖脱氢酶则随着外源乙酸钠质量浓度增加而逐渐降低。为了应对外源乙酸钠压力,大肠埃希菌DA19的生长代谢和中心代谢途径酶活都发生了明显改变。     

嗜乙酰乙酸棒杆菌Corynebacterium acetoacidophilum-Δldh缺氧条件下代谢葡萄糖途径的变化

缺氧条件下嗜乙酰乙酸棒杆菌Corynebacterium acetoacidophilum ATCC13870生长停滞,却能够代谢葡萄糖产生以乳酸和琥珀酸为主的有机酸。采用以sacB基因为反向筛选标记的同源重组染色体基因敲除系统,敲除嗜乙酰乙酸棒杆菌的乳酸脱氢酶基因,得到的Δldh菌株CCTCC NO.M20122041在缺氧条件下不产乳酸,葡萄糖消耗速率降低了29.3%,产琥珀酸和乙酸浓度分别提高45.6%和182%;NADH/NAD+值小于1(约0.7);磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶和乙酸激酶的比酶活分别提高84%和12倍。说明嗜乙酰乙酸棒杆菌中乳酸合成途径的阻断驱使了琥珀酸和乙酸代谢途径加强,推测加强NADH供给和阻断乙酸产生支路可能是提高C.acetoacidophilum菌株产琥珀酸产量的有效途径。     

腺嘌呤对大肠杆菌DH5α和其耐乙酸突变株DA19 代谢流分布的影响

【目的】本文通过分析在基本培养基中添加腺嘌呤对大肠杆菌DH5α和其耐乙酸突变株DA19代谢流分布的影响,从而进一步了解二者在代谢调控方面的差异。【方法】对2个菌株分别在氮源限制基本培养基及添加腺嘌呤的氮源限制基本培养基中进行连续培养,分析两者代谢流变化差异,并与酶活测定结果进行比较。【结果】添加腺嘌呤降低了DH5α的葡萄糖比消耗速率和乙酸的比生成速率,提高了菌体关于葡萄糖的得率,而丙酮酸比生成速率变化不明显。与MN培养基相比,添加腺嘌呤后DH5α降低了乙酸分流比,提高了分泌丙酮酸和三羧酸循环分流比,同时明显改变了磷酸果糖激酶、6-磷酸葡萄糖脱氢酶和乙酸激酶酶活。与DH5α不同,添加腺嘌呤使得DA19的丙酮酸比生成速率增加了近57%,而其它参数无明显改变。与MN培养基相比,DA19在添加腺嘌呤后降低了三羧酸循环分流比,大大提高了分泌丙酮酸分流比,而关键酶活未发生明显改变。酶活变化与代谢流结果基本一致。【结论】由于大肠杆菌DH5α和DA19嘌呤核苷酸从头合成途径能力存在差异,因此添加腺嘌呤对两个菌株的代谢流分布产生了完全不同的影响。     

过量表达Bacillus subtilis磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化激酶对大肠杆菌产琥珀酸的影响

在大肠杆菌厌氧混合酸发酵途径中,磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶(PPC)和磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化激酶(PCK)皆可催化由磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸(PEP)到草酰乙酸(OAA)的反应。鉴于经由PCK催化的反应伴有ATP的生成,理论上更有利于菌体生长和产酸,本研究以大肠杆菌W3110(△pfl,△ldh)为出发菌株,利用λ-Red同源重组系统构建了其ppc缺陷菌株并在此基础上过量表达了Bacillus subtilispck基因。初步的厌氧发酵实验表明:过量表达pck可在一定程度上恢复初始菌株厌氧代谢葡萄糖的能力。其中又以ppc缺陷株更为明显,其耗糖能力和产酸能力分别为对照菌株的4.2和15.3倍。     

大肠杆菌产L-苯丙氨酸发酵调控及代谢通量分析

考察了外源添加中间代谢产物、维生素B1和硫酸镁对大肠杆菌发酵产L-苯丙氨酸的影响,结果表明,添加1g/L柠檬酸三钠、1g/Lα-酮戊二酸、150mg/L维生素B1及3g/L硫酸镁均对L-苯丙氨酸的合成有利。根据构建的大肠杆菌合成L-苯丙氨酸的生化反应网络,利用代谢通量分析其原因。结果表明,这些物质的添加均可以调节G6P和PEP节点处的代谢通量分布,为L-苯丙氨酸的合成提供更多的前体物质赤藓糖四磷酸(E4P)、磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸(PEP)和还原力NADPH。通过补料分批发酵实验得出,优化后菌体对总葡萄糖的消耗提高了24.49%,菌体终浓度提高了23.50%,L-苯丙氨酸的终浓度提高了62.87%,L-苯丙氨酸的收率提高了30.88%,乙酸的合成降低了56.51%。     

ppc基因敲除对大肠杆菌L-色氨酸发酵的影响

目的：减少大肠杆菌L-色氧酸前体物质磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸向草酰乙酸的代谢流,提高其L-色氨酸的产量。方法：以大肠杆菌TRTH0709为出发菌株,利用Red重组敲除技术敲除磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶（Ppc）编码基因PPc,并经测序和酶活性检测确证;对出发菌株和基因敲除菌株进行L-色氖酸发酵,对比分析发酵结果。结果：测序和酶活性检测结果表明ppc基因被成功敲除。发酵结果表明,与出发菌株相比,基因敲除菌株TRTH0709△ppc生长速度减慢,最终生物量减少32％,L-色氯酸产量降低27％,但糖酸转化率提高6％;向发酵培养基中添加1％琥珀酸后,TRTH0709△ppc的生长速率和产酸量有所提高,但仍与出发菌株有一定差距。结论：虽然ppc基因敲除对菌体生长和产酸量影响较大,但能有效提高其糖酸转化率;选育Ppc弱化的突变株以达到减弱代谢流且不影响菌体生长,以及增加,L-色氨酸积累的目的,将是本研究今后的主要方向。     

磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶基因的敲除对北京棒杆菌PD-67的生理代谢的影响

【目的】为了优化L-色氨酸合成的前体供应,构建北京棒杆菌PD-67(Corynebacterium pekinense PD-67)磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶(EC:4.1.1.31,phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase,PEPCx)基因ppc敲除的菌株,并研究ppc基因敲除对菌株生理特性的影响。【方法】运用PCR技术扩增ppc基因的上游和下游序列,构建带有目标基因内部缺失的基因整合载体。通过同源重组技术将C.pekinense PD-67的ppc基因敲除,构建ppc基因缺陷突变株C.pekinense PD-67-Δppc。通过摇瓶发酵研究突变株的生理特性,并测定突变株丙酮酸激酶和丙酮酸羧化酶的活性。【结果】PCR验证和PEPCx活性分析结果表明,筛选到ppc缺陷的突变株。摇瓶发酵结果表明,与出发菌株相比,突变株的生长速率下降,生物量降低20%,L-色氨酸积累降低62%,丙酮酸激酶活力提高,而丙酮酸羧化酶活力下降。【结论】C.pekinense PD-67的ppc基因敲除以后,对菌株的代谢影响较大。仅通过阻断PEPCx催化的回补途径,减少磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸的分支代谢,不能提高该菌株L-色氨酸的积累。     

Analysis of Escherichia coli anaplerotic metabolism and its regulation mechanisms from the metabolic responses to altered dilution rates and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase knockout

The gluconeogenic phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxykinase is active in Escherichia coli during its growth on glucose. The present study investigated the influence of growth rates and PEP carboxykinase knockout on the anaplerotic fluxes in E. coli. The intracellular fluxes were determined using the complementary methods of flux ratio analysis and metabolic flux analysis based on [U-(13)C(6)]glucose labeling experiments and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of cellular amino acids and glycerol. Significant activity of PEP carboxykinase was identified in wild-type E. coli, and the ATP dissipation for the futile cycling via this reaction accounted for up to 8.2% of the total energy flux. Flux analysis of pck deletion mutant revealed that abolishment of PEP carboxykinase activity resulted in a remarkably reduced flux through the anaplerotic PEP carboxylase and the activation of the glyoxylate shunt, with 23% of isocitrate found being channeled in the glyoxylate shunt. The changes in intracellular metabolite concentrations and specific enzyme activities associated with different growth rates and pck deletion, were also determined. Combining the measurement data of in vivo fluxes, metabolite concentrations and enzyme activities, the in vivo regulations of PEP carboxykinase flux, PEP carboxylation, and glyoxylate shunt in E. coli are discussed.     

Effect of zwf gene knockout on the metabolism of Escherichia coli grown on glucose or acetate

The mutant deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) was constructed by disrupting zwf gene by one-step inactivation protocol using polymerase chain reaction primers. The knockout of zwf gene was shown to have different influence on the metabolism of Escherichia coli grown on glucose or acetate. The decreased rates of substrate uptake and CO(2) production were found for the mutant grown on acetate, whereas these two rates were increased during the growth on glucose. The metabolic flux analysis based on (13)C-labeling experiments indicates that the metabolism of the mutant grown on glucose is related to the higher flux via tricorboxylic acid (TCA) cycle to generate anabolic reducing equivalents normally provided by the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. However, the metabolism of the mutant grown on acetate shows a lower flux towards the TCA cycle as compared with the parent strain. The decreased flux through TCA cycle is associated with an increased flux via the glyoxylate shunt, by which the carbon source can bypass the two decarboxylative steps of TCA cycle in which CO(2) is released, thus conserving more carbon for biosynthesis in response to the decreased uptake rate of the carbon source.     

Metabolic flux analysis for a ppc mutant Escherichia coli based on 13C-labelling experiments together with enzyme activity assays and intracellular metabolite measurements

The physiology and central metabolism of a ppc mutant Escherichia coli were investigated based on the metabolic flux distribution obtained by (13)C-labelling experiments using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and 2-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D NMR) strategies together with enzyme activity assays and intracellular metabolite concentration measurements. Compared to the wild type, its ppc mutant excreted little acetate and produced less carbon dioxide at the expense of a slower growth rate and a lower glucose uptake rate. Consequently, an improvement of the biomass yield on glucose was observed in the ppc mutant. Enzyme activity measurements revealed that isocitrate lyase activity increased by more than 3-fold in the ppc mutant. Some TCA cycle enzymes such as citrate synthase, aconitase and malate dehydrogenase were also upregulated, but enzymes of glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway were downregulated. The intracellular intermediates in the glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway, therefore, accumulated, while acetyl coenzyme A and oxaloacetate concentrations decreased in the ppc mutant. The intracellular metabolic flux analysis uncovered that deletion of ppc resulted in the appearance of the glyoxylate shunt, with 18.9% of the carbon flux being channeled via the glyoxylate shunt. However, the flux of the pentose phosphate pathway significantly decreased in the ppc mutant.     

Branch point control by the phosphorylation state of isocitrate dehydrogenase. A quantitative examination of fluxes during a regulatory transition

To understand how enzymatic pathways respond to changing external conditions, the fluxes through the tricarboxylic acid cycle and ancillary reactions were determined under three different growth conditions in Escherichia coli. The velocities through the major steps in each pathway were measured (a) for growth on acetate alone, (b) for growth on acetate plus glucose, and (c) during the transition caused by addition of glucose to cells growing on acetate. During the transition, the carbon flow through the Krebs cycle decreased by a factor of 5 despite an increase in the growth rate of the culture. Under these conditions, the dephosphorylation of isocitrate dehydrogenase caused a 4-fold increase in its activity. This, together with the decreased rate of substrate production and the kinetic parameters of the branch point enzymes, led to a cessation of the flux through the glyoxylate shunt. The decreased rate of acetyl-CoA turnover, not an inhibition of acetate transport, caused a slower rate of acetate uptake in the presence of glucose. The modulation of protein phosphorylation and metabolite levels is one of the regulatory mechanisms which enables the bacterium to make dramatic shifts between metabolic pathways within a fraction of a doubling time.     

Effect of lpdA gene knockout on the metabolism in Escherichia coli based on enzyme activities, intracellular metabolite concentrations and metabolic flux analysis by 13C-labeling experiments

The lipoamide dehydrogenase (LPD) encoded by lpdA gene is a component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHc), alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (AKGDH) and the glycine cleavage multi-enzyme (GCV) systems. In the present study, cell growth characteristics, enzyme activities and intracellular metabolite concentrations were compared between the parent strain Escherichia coli BW25113 and its lpdA knockout mutant in batch and continuous cultures. The lpdA knockout mutant produced significantly more pyruvate and L-glutamate under aerobiosis. Some D-lactate and succinate also accumulated in the culture broth. Based on the investigation of enzyme activities and intracellular metabolite concentrations, acetyl-CoA was considered to be formed by the combined reactions through pyruvate oxidase (PoxB), acetyl-CoA synthetase (Acs) and acetate kinase (Ack)-phosphoacetyltransferase (Pta) in the lpdA mutant. The effect of the lpdA gene knockout on the intracellular metabolic flux distributions was investigated based on 1H-13C NMR spectra and GC-MS signals obtained from 13C-labeling experiment using the mixture of [U-13C] glucose, [1-13C] glucose, and naturally labeled glucose. Flux analysis of the lpdA mutant indicated that the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway and the glyoxylate shunt were activated. The fluxes through glycolysis and oxidative pentose phosphate (PP) pathway (except for the flux through glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) were slightly downregulated. The TCA cycle was also downregulated in the mutant strain. On the other hand, the fluxes through the anaplerotic reactions of PEP carboxylase, PEP carboxykinase and malic enzyme were upregulated, which were consistent with the results of enzyme activities. Furthermore, the influence of the poxB gene knockout on the growth of E. coli was also studied because of its similar function to PDHc which connects the glycolysis to the TCA cycle. Under aerobiosis, a comparison of lpdA mutant and poxB mutant indicated that PDHc is the main enzyme which catalyzes the reaction from pyruvate to acetyl-CoA in the parent strain, while PoxB plays a very important role in the PDHc-deficient strain.     

Effect of sucA or sucC gene knockout on the metabolism in Escherichia coli based on gene expressions, enzyme activities, intracellular metabolite concentrations and metabolic fluxes by C-labeling experiments

The effect of sucA or sucC gene knockout on the metabolism in Escherichia coli was investigated for the aerobic cell growth in batch and continuous cultivations based on gene expressions, enzyme activities, intracellular metabolite concentrations and metabolic flux analysis. In the batch cultivation, the cell growth rate and the glucose uptake rate were lower for sucA mutant as compared with the parent strain, while it was not the case for sucC mutant. A significantly higher amount of acetate was produced, and it was not utilized in sucC mutant, while a little less acetate was produced in sucA mutant as compared with the parent strain. Unlike the parent strain and sucC mutant, sucA mutant excreted a little amount of l-glutamate. Enzyme activity results show that some of the glycolytic enzymes such as Tpi and Pgk were up-regulated, while Pfk, Fba and Pyk activities were down-regulated for sucA mutant as compared with the parent strain. For sucC mutant, the activities of Pfk, Fba, Tpi, GAPDH, Pgk and Pyk activities were down-regulated. As for the TCA cycle enzymes, the activities of CS and ICDH were down-regulated, while those of Icl, MS, Fum and MDH were up-regulated for sucA mutant. The activities of the oxidative pentose phosphate (PP) pathway enzymes such as G6PDH and 6PGDH and the gluconeogenic pathway enzyme such as Mez were up-regulated in sucA mutant. The Ack activity was down-regulated for sucA mutant, but not for sucC mutant. In continuous cultivation, the gene expression results indicate that the global regulatory genes such as fadR and iclR were slightly down-regulated in sucA mutant, which enhanced the expression of aceA gene and caused the up-regulation of the isocitrate lyase activity in sucA mutant, while fadR and iclR of sucC mutant changed little and no isocitrate lyase activation was observed for sucC mutant. Some other global regulatory genes such as arcA and fnr genes were down-regulated in both mutants, which caused some of the TCA cycle genes to be up-regulated. The effect of the sucA gene knockout on the metabolic flux distributions was investigated based on ¹H–¹³C NMR spectra and GC–MS signals obtained from ¹³C-labeling experiments. Flux analysis results indicate that the knockout of sucA gene caused the activation of PP pathway and the glyoxylate shunt. The fluxes through glycolysis and the TCA cycle were down-regulated in the sucA mutant. On the other hand, the fluxes through PP pathway and the anaplerotic reactions of Ppc-Pck and Mez increased.     

Proposed mechanism of acetate accumulation in two recombinant Escherichia coli strains during high density fermentation

The productivity of Escherichia coli as a producer of recombinant proteins is affected by its metabolic properties, especially by acetate production. Two commercially used E. coli strains, BL21 (lambdaDE3) and JM109, differ significantly in their acetate production during batch fermentation at high initial glucose concentrations. E. coli BL21 grows to an optical density (OD, 600 nm) of 100 and produces no more than 2 g/L acetate, while E. coli JM109 grows to an OD (600 nm) of 80 and produces up to 14 g/L acetate. Even in fed-batch fermentation, when glucose concentration is maintained between 0.5 and 1.0 g/L, JM109 accumulates 4 times more acetate than BL21. To investigate the difference between the two strains, metabolites and enzymes involved in carbon utilization and acetate production were analyzed (isocitrate, ATP, phosphoenolpyruvate, pyruvate, isocitrate lyase, and isocitrate dehydrogenase). The results showed that during batch fermentation isocitrate lyase activity and isocitrate concentration were higher in BL21 than in JM109, while pyruvate concentration was higher in JM109. The activation of the glyoxylate shunt pathway at high glucose concentrations is suggested as a possible explanation for the lower acetate accumulation in E. coli BL21. Metabolic flux analysis of the batch cultures supports the activity of the glyoxylate shunt in E. coli BL21.     

Inactivation of isocitrate lyase leads to increased production of medium-chain-length poly(3-hydroxyalkanoates) in Pseudomonas putida

Medium-chain-length (mcl) poly(3-hydroxyalkanoates) (PHAs) are storage polymers that are produced from various substrates and accumulate in Pseudomonas strains belonging to rRNA homology group I. In experiments aimed at increasing PHA production in Pseudomonas strains, we generated an mcl PHA-overproducing mutant of Pseudomonas putida KT2442 by transposon mutagenesis, in which the aceA gene was knocked out. This mutation inactivated the glyoxylate shunt and reduced the in vitro activity of isocitrate dehydrogenase, a rate-limiting enzyme of the citric acid cycle. The genotype of the mutant was confirmed by DNA sequencing, and the phenotype was confirmed by biochemical experiments. The aceA mutant was not able to grow on acetate as a sole carbon source due to disruption of the glyoxylate bypass and exhibited two- to fivefold lower isocitrate dehydrogenase activity than the wild type. During growth on gluconate, the difference between the mean PHA accumulation in the mutant and the mean PHA accumulation in the wild-type strain was 52%, which resulted in a significant increase in the amount of mcl PHA at the end of the exponential phase in the mutant P. putida KT217. On the basis of a stoichiometric flux analysis we predicted that knockout of the glyoxylate pathway in addition to reduced flux through isocitrate dehydrogenase should lead to increased flux into the fatty acid synthesis pathway. Therefore, enhanced carbon flow towards the fatty acid synthesis pathway increased the amount of mcl PHA that could be accumulated by the mutant.     

Responses of the central metabolism in Escherichia coli to phosphoglucose isomerase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase knockouts

The responses of Escherichia coli central carbon metabolism to knockout mutations in phosphoglucose isomerase and glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) dehydrogenase genes were investigated by using glucose- and ammonia-limited chemostats. The metabolic network structures and intracellular carbon fluxes in the wild type and in the knockout mutants were characterized by using the complementary methods of flux ratio analysis and metabolic flux analysis based on [U-(13)C]glucose labeling and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of cellular amino acids, glycerol, and glucose. Disruption of phosphoglucose isomerase resulted in use of the pentose phosphate pathway as the primary route of glucose catabolism, while flux rerouting via the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway and the nonoxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway compensated for the G6P dehydrogenase deficiency. Furthermore, additional, unexpected flux responses to the knockout mutations were observed. Most prominently, the glyoxylate shunt was found to be active in phosphoglucose isomerase-deficient E. coli. The Entner-Doudoroff pathway also contributed to a minor fraction of the glucose catabolism in this mutant strain. Moreover, although knockout of G6P dehydrogenase had no significant influence on the central metabolism under glucose-limited conditions, this mutation resulted in extensive overflow metabolism and extremely low tricarboxylic acid cycle fluxes under ammonia limitation conditions.