Methane Utilization in Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20ZR: A Systems Approach

Michael Guarnieri, Ilya Akberdin, Richard Hamilton, Nalini Desai, Danny Alexander, Marina Kalyuzhnaya, Merlin Thompson, Calvin Henard

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

93 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Biological methane utilization, one of the main sinks of the greenhouse gas in nature, represents an attractive platform for production of fuels and value-added chemicals. Despite the progress made in our understanding of the individual parts of methane utilization, our knowledge of how the whole-cell metabolic network is organized and coordinated is limited. Attractive growth and methane-conversion rates, a complete and expert-annotated genome sequence, as well as large enzymatic, 13C-labeling, and transcriptomic datasets make Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20ZR an exceptional model system for investigating methane utilization networks. Here we present a comprehensive metabolic framework of methane and methanol utilization in M. alcaliphilum 20ZR. A set of novel metabolic reactions governing carbon distribution across central pathways in methanotrophic bacteria was predicted by in-silico simulations and confirmed by global non-targeted metabolomics and enzymatic evidences. Our data highlight the importance of substitution of ATP-linked steps with PPi-dependent reactions and support the presence of a carbon shunt from acetyl-CoA to the pentose-phosphate pathway and highly branched TCA cycle. The diverged TCA reactions promote balance between anabolic reactions and redox demands. The computational framework of C1-metabolism in methanotrophic bacteria can represent an efficient tool for metabolic engineering or ecosystem modeling.

Original languageAmerican English
Article numberArticle No. 2512
Number of pages13
JournalScientific Reports
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5100-70511

Keywords

  • metabolic engineering
  • methane utilization
  • methylomicrobium alcaliphilum

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