Maintaining maximal metabolic flux by gene expression control.
One of the marvels of biology is the phenotypic plasticity of microorganisms. It allows them to maintain high growth rates across conditions. Studies suggest that cells can express metabolic enzymes at tuned concentrations through adjustment of gene expression. The associated transcription factors a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2018-09-01
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| Series: | PLoS Computational Biology |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6168163?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1811268297476276224 |
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| author | Robert Planqué Josephus Hulshof Bas Teusink Johannes C Hendriks Frank J Bruggeman |
| author_facet | Robert Planqué Josephus Hulshof Bas Teusink Johannes C Hendriks Frank J Bruggeman |
| author_sort | Robert Planqué |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | One of the marvels of biology is the phenotypic plasticity of microorganisms. It allows them to maintain high growth rates across conditions. Studies suggest that cells can express metabolic enzymes at tuned concentrations through adjustment of gene expression. The associated transcription factors are often regulated by intracellular metabolites. Here we study metabolite-mediated regulation of metabolic-gene expression that maximises metabolic fluxes across conditions. We developed an adaptive control theory, qORAC (for 'Specific Flux (q) Optimization by Robust Adaptive Control'), and illustrate it with several examples of metabolic pathways. The key feature of the theory is that it does not require knowledge of the regulatory network, only of the metabolic part. We derive that maximal metabolic flux can be maintained in the face of varying N environmental parameters only if the number of transcription-factor binding metabolites is at least equal to N. The controlling circuits appear to require simple biochemical kinetics. We conclude that microorganisms likely can achieve maximal rates in metabolic pathways, in the face of environmental changes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T21:20:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-66255b5bc4de4b739fcdf705c66c8044 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1553-734X 1553-7358 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T21:20:24Z |
| publishDate | 2018-09-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Computational Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-66255b5bc4de4b739fcdf705c66c80442022-12-22T03:16:20ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582018-09-01149e100641210.1371/journal.pcbi.1006412Maintaining maximal metabolic flux by gene expression control.Robert PlanquéJosephus HulshofBas TeusinkJohannes C HendriksFrank J BruggemanOne of the marvels of biology is the phenotypic plasticity of microorganisms. It allows them to maintain high growth rates across conditions. Studies suggest that cells can express metabolic enzymes at tuned concentrations through adjustment of gene expression. The associated transcription factors are often regulated by intracellular metabolites. Here we study metabolite-mediated regulation of metabolic-gene expression that maximises metabolic fluxes across conditions. We developed an adaptive control theory, qORAC (for 'Specific Flux (q) Optimization by Robust Adaptive Control'), and illustrate it with several examples of metabolic pathways. The key feature of the theory is that it does not require knowledge of the regulatory network, only of the metabolic part. We derive that maximal metabolic flux can be maintained in the face of varying N environmental parameters only if the number of transcription-factor binding metabolites is at least equal to N. The controlling circuits appear to require simple biochemical kinetics. We conclude that microorganisms likely can achieve maximal rates in metabolic pathways, in the face of environmental changes.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6168163?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Robert Planqué Josephus Hulshof Bas Teusink Johannes C Hendriks Frank J Bruggeman Maintaining maximal metabolic flux by gene expression control. PLoS Computational Biology |
| title | Maintaining maximal metabolic flux by gene expression control. |
| title_full | Maintaining maximal metabolic flux by gene expression control. |
| title_fullStr | Maintaining maximal metabolic flux by gene expression control. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Maintaining maximal metabolic flux by gene expression control. |
| title_short | Maintaining maximal metabolic flux by gene expression control. |
| title_sort | maintaining maximal metabolic flux by gene expression control |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6168163?pdf=render |
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