Dataset Information

Improved genome annotation through untargeted detection of pathway-specific metabolites.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics analyses have the potential to complement sequence-based methods of genome annotation, but only if raw mass spectral data can be linked to specific metabolic pathways. In untargeted metabolomics, the measured mass of a detected compound is used to define the location of the compound in chemical space, but uncertainties in mass measurements lead to "degeneracies" in chemical space since multiple chemical formulae correspond to the same measured mass. We compare two methods to eliminate these degeneracies. One method relies on natural isotopic abundances, and the other relies on the use of stable-isotope labeling (SIL) to directly determine C and N atom counts. Both depend on combinatorial explorations of the "chemical space" comprised of all possible chemical formulae comprised of biologically relevant chemical elements.

Results

Of 1532 metabolic pathways curated in the MetaCyc database, 412 contain a metabolite having a chemical formula unique to that metabolic pathway. Thus, chemical formulae alone can suffice to infer the presence of some metabolic pathways. Of 248,928 unique chemical formulae selected from the PubChem database, more than 95% had at least one degeneracy on the basis of accurate mass information alone. Consideration of natural isotopic abundance reduced degeneracy to 64%, but mainly for formulae less than 500 Da in molecular weight, and only if the error in the relative isotopic peak intensity was less than 10%. Knowledge of exact C and N atom counts as determined by SIL enabled reduced degeneracy, allowing for determination of unique chemical formula for 55% of the PubChem formulae.

Conclusions

To facilitate the assignment of chemical formulae to unknown mass-spectral features, profiling can be performed on cultures uniformly labeled with stable isotopes of nitrogen (15N) or carbon (13C). This makes it possible to accurately count the number of carbon and nitrogen atoms in each molecule, providing a robust means for reducing the degeneracy of chemical space and thus obtaining unique chemical formulae for features measured in untargeted metabolomics having a mass greater than 500 Da, with relative errors in measured isotopic peak intensity greater than 10%, and without the use of a chemical formula generator dependent on heuristic filtering. These chemical formulae can serve as indicators for the presence of particular metabolic pathways.

SUBMITTER: Bowen BP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3223729 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Improved genome annotation through untargeted detection of pathway-specific metabolites.

Bowen Benjamin P BP Fischer Curt R CR Baran Richard R Banfield Jillian F JF Northen Trent T

BMC genomics 20110615

<h4>Background</h4>Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics analyses have the potential to complement sequence-based methods of genome annotation, but only if raw mass spectral data can be linked to specific metabolic pathways. In untargeted metabolomics, the measured mass of a detected compound is used to define the location of the compound in chemical space, but uncertainties in mass measurements lead to "degeneracies" in chemical space since multiple chemical formulae correspond to the same measu ...[more]

PMID: 21810208

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Since ancient times the filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae has been used in the fermentation industry for the production of fermented sauces and the production of industrial enzymes. Recently, the genome sequence of A. oryzae with 12,074 annotated genes was released but the number of hypothetical proteins accounted for more than 50% of the annotated genes. Considering the industrial importance of this fungus, it is therefore valuable to improve the annotation and further integrate genomic information with biochemical and physiological information available for this microorganism and other related fungi. Here we proposed the gene prediction by construction of an A. oryzae Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) library, sequencing and assembly. We enhanced the function assignment by our developed annotation strategy. The resulting better annotation was used to reconstruct the metabolic network leading to a genome scale metabolic model of A. oryzae. RESULTS:Our assembled EST sequences we identified 1,046 newly predicted genes in the A. oryzae genome. Furthermore, it was possible to assign putative protein functions to 398 of the newly predicted genes. Noteworthy, our annotation strategy resulted in assignment of new putative functions to 1,469 hypothetical proteins already present in the A. oryzae genome database. Using the substantially improved annotated genome we reconstructed the metabolic network of A. oryzae. This network contains 729 enzymes, 1,314 enzyme-encoding genes, 1,073 metabolites and 1,846 (1,053 unique) biochemical reactions. The metabolic reactions are compartmentalized into the cytosol, the mitochondria, the peroxisome and the extracellular space. Transport steps between the compartments and the extracellular space represent 281 reactions, of which 161 are unique. The metabolic model was validated and shown to correctly describe the phenotypic behavior of A. oryzae grown on different carbon sources. CONCLUSION:A much enhanced annotation of the A. oryzae genome was performed and a genome-scale metabolic model of A. oryzae was reconstructed. The model accurately predicted the growth and biomass yield on different carbon sources. The model serves as an important resource for gaining further insight into our understanding of A. oryzae physiology.

Dataset Information

Improved genome annotation through untargeted detection of pathway-specific metabolites.

Background

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Improved genome annotation through untargeted detection of pathway-specific metabolites.

Similar Datasets

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