Characterization of growth and metabolism of the haloalkaliphile Natronomonas pharaonis.

Natronomonas pharaonis is an archaeon adapted to two extreme conditions: high salt concentration and alkaline pH. It has become one of the model organisms for the study of extremophilic life. Here, we present a genome-scale, manually curated metabolic reconstruction for the microorganism. The recons...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Orland Gonzalez, Tanja Oberwinkler, Locedie Mansueto, Friedhelm Pfeiffer, Eduardo Mendoza, Ralf Zimmer, Dieter Oesterhelt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2010-06-01
Series:PLoS Computational Biology
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2881530?pdf=render
_version_ 1818583385681952768
author Orland Gonzalez
Tanja Oberwinkler
Locedie Mansueto
Friedhelm Pfeiffer
Eduardo Mendoza
Ralf Zimmer
Dieter Oesterhelt
author_facet Orland Gonzalez
Tanja Oberwinkler
Locedie Mansueto
Friedhelm Pfeiffer
Eduardo Mendoza
Ralf Zimmer
Dieter Oesterhelt
author_sort Orland Gonzalez
collection DOAJ
description Natronomonas pharaonis is an archaeon adapted to two extreme conditions: high salt concentration and alkaline pH. It has become one of the model organisms for the study of extremophilic life. Here, we present a genome-scale, manually curated metabolic reconstruction for the microorganism. The reconstruction itself represents a knowledge base of the haloalkaliphile's metabolism and, as such, would greatly assist further investigations on archaeal pathways. In addition, we experimentally determined several parameters relevant to growth, including a characterization of the biomass composition and a quantification of carbon and oxygen consumption. Using the metabolic reconstruction and the experimental data, we formulated a constraints-based model which we used to analyze the behavior of the archaeon when grown on a single carbon source. Results of the analysis include the finding that Natronomonas pharaonis, when grown aerobically on acetate, uses a carbon to oxygen consumption ratio that is theoretically near-optimal with respect to growth and energy production. This supports the hypothesis that, under simple conditions, the microorganism optimizes its metabolism with respect to the two objectives. We also found that the archaeon has a very low carbon efficiency of only about 35%. This inefficiency is probably due to a very low P/O ratio as well as to the other difficulties posed by its extreme environment.
first_indexed 2024-12-16T08:04:27Z
format Article
id doaj.art-31d299d1ed604ca59de6310004bbb31b
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1553-734X
1553-7358
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-16T08:04:27Z
publishDate 2010-06-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS Computational Biology
spelling doaj.art-31d299d1ed604ca59de6310004bbb31b2022-12-21T22:38:30ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582010-06-0166e100079910.1371/journal.pcbi.1000799Characterization of growth and metabolism of the haloalkaliphile Natronomonas pharaonis.Orland GonzalezTanja OberwinklerLocedie MansuetoFriedhelm PfeifferEduardo MendozaRalf ZimmerDieter OesterheltNatronomonas pharaonis is an archaeon adapted to two extreme conditions: high salt concentration and alkaline pH. It has become one of the model organisms for the study of extremophilic life. Here, we present a genome-scale, manually curated metabolic reconstruction for the microorganism. The reconstruction itself represents a knowledge base of the haloalkaliphile's metabolism and, as such, would greatly assist further investigations on archaeal pathways. In addition, we experimentally determined several parameters relevant to growth, including a characterization of the biomass composition and a quantification of carbon and oxygen consumption. Using the metabolic reconstruction and the experimental data, we formulated a constraints-based model which we used to analyze the behavior of the archaeon when grown on a single carbon source. Results of the analysis include the finding that Natronomonas pharaonis, when grown aerobically on acetate, uses a carbon to oxygen consumption ratio that is theoretically near-optimal with respect to growth and energy production. This supports the hypothesis that, under simple conditions, the microorganism optimizes its metabolism with respect to the two objectives. We also found that the archaeon has a very low carbon efficiency of only about 35%. This inefficiency is probably due to a very low P/O ratio as well as to the other difficulties posed by its extreme environment.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2881530?pdf=render
spellingShingle Orland Gonzalez
Tanja Oberwinkler
Locedie Mansueto
Friedhelm Pfeiffer
Eduardo Mendoza
Ralf Zimmer
Dieter Oesterhelt
Characterization of growth and metabolism of the haloalkaliphile Natronomonas pharaonis.
PLoS Computational Biology
title Characterization of growth and metabolism of the haloalkaliphile Natronomonas pharaonis.
title_full Characterization of growth and metabolism of the haloalkaliphile Natronomonas pharaonis.
title_fullStr Characterization of growth and metabolism of the haloalkaliphile Natronomonas pharaonis.
title_full_unstemmed Characterization of growth and metabolism of the haloalkaliphile Natronomonas pharaonis.
title_short Characterization of growth and metabolism of the haloalkaliphile Natronomonas pharaonis.
title_sort characterization of growth and metabolism of the haloalkaliphile natronomonas pharaonis
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2881530?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT orlandgonzalez characterizationofgrowthandmetabolismofthehaloalkaliphilenatronomonaspharaonis
AT tanjaoberwinkler characterizationofgrowthandmetabolismofthehaloalkaliphilenatronomonaspharaonis
AT locediemansueto characterizationofgrowthandmetabolismofthehaloalkaliphilenatronomonaspharaonis
AT friedhelmpfeiffer characterizationofgrowthandmetabolismofthehaloalkaliphilenatronomonaspharaonis
AT eduardomendoza characterizationofgrowthandmetabolismofthehaloalkaliphilenatronomonaspharaonis
AT ralfzimmer characterizationofgrowthandmetabolismofthehaloalkaliphilenatronomonaspharaonis
AT dieteroesterhelt characterizationofgrowthandmetabolismofthehaloalkaliphilenatronomonaspharaonis