Metabolic remodeling during nitrogen fixation in Zymomonas mobilis

Citation

J.I. Martien et al. "Metabolic remodeling during nitrogen fixation in Zymomonas mobilis" mSystems 6, 6 (2021) [DOI: 10.1128/mSystems.00987-21]

Description

Biofuels and bioproducts have the potential to serve as environmentally sustainable replacements for petroleum-derived fuels and commodity molecules. Advanced fuels such as higher alcohols and isoprenoids are more suitable gasoline replacements than bioethanol. Developing microbial systems to generate advanced biofuels requires metabolic engineering to reroute carbon away from ethanol and other native products and toward desired pathways, such as the MEP pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis. However, rational engineering of microbial metabolism relies on understanding metabolic control points, in terms of both enzyme activity and thermodynamic favorability. In Z. mobilis, the factors that control glycolytic rates, ethanol production, and isoprenoid production are still not fully understood. In this study, we performed metabolomic, proteomic, and thermodynamic analysis of Z. mobilis during N₂ fixation. This analysis identified key changes in metabolite levels, enzyme abundance, and glycolytic thermodynamic favorability that occurred during changes in NH₄⁺ availability, helping to inform future efforts in metabolic engineering.

Data Access

The mass spectrometry proteomics data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange Consortium PRIDE repository under numver PXD028526. Metabolomics data have been deposited in the Open Science Framework (OSF) under the project “N2 fixation in Zymomonas mobilis."

More Information

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