Project description:Anaerobic activation of benzene is expected to represent a novel biochemistry of environmental significance but research into the mechanisms has been stymied by a lack of a genetically tractable pure culture which unequivocally does not use molecular oxygen to activate benzene. Geobacter metallireducens grew in a medium in which benzene was the sole electron donor and Fe(III) was the sole electron acceptor with a stoichiometry of benzene loss and Fe(III) reduction consistent with benzene oxidation to carbon dioxide coupled with Fe(III) reduction. Phenol labeled with 18O was produced when the medium was labeled with H218O, as expected for a true anaerobic conversion of benzene to phenol. Gene expression patterns indicated that benzene was metabolized through a phenol intermediate rather than benzoate or toluene. Deletion of ppcB, which encodes a subunit of the phenylphosphate carboxylase, an enzyme required for phenol metabolism, inhibited metabolism of benzene. Deleting genes specific for benzoate or toluene metabolism did not. Comparison of gene expression patterns in cells grown on benzene versus cells grown on phenol revealed genes specifically expressed in benzene-grown cells. Deletion of one of these, Gmet_3376, inhibited anaerobic benzene oxidation, but not the metabolism of phenol, benzoate, or toluene. The availability of a genetically tractable pure culture that can anaerobically convert benzene to phenol with oxygen derived from water should significantly accelerate elucidation of the mechanisms by which benzene can be activated in the absence of molecular oxygen. Total RNA from three separate cultures of G. metallireducens grown with 250 ÂµM benzene three separate cultures of G. metallireducens grown with 500 ÂµM phenol three separate cultures of G. metallireducens grown with 1 mM benzoate three separate cultures of G. metallireducens grown with 500 ÂµM toluene three separate cultures of G. metallireducens grown with 10 mM acetate were used to study [1] Anaerobic oxidation of benzene by G. metallireducens (Benzene vs. acetate, Benzene vs. benzoate, Benzene vs. phenol, Benzene vs. toluene) [2] Anaerobic oxidation of benzoate by G. metallireducens (Benzoate vs. acetate) [3] Anaerobic oxidation of phenol by G. metallireducens (Phenol vs. acetate) [4] Anaerobic oxidation of toluene by G. metallireducens (Toluene vs. acetate) Each chip measures the expression level of 3,627 genes from G. metallireducens DSM 7210 with nine 45-60-mer probe pairs (PM/MM) per gene, with three-fold technical redundancy.

Project description:Sun2009 - Genome-scale metabolic network of Geobacter metallireducens (iJS747) This model is described in the article: Genome-scale constraint-based modeling of Geobacter metallireducens. Sun J, Sayyar B, Butler JE, Pharkya P, Fahland TR, Famili I, Schilling CH, Lovley DR, Mahadevan R. BMC Syst Biol 2009; 3: 15 Abstract: BACKGROUND: Geobacter metallireducens was the first organism that can be grown in pure culture to completely oxidize organic compounds with Fe(III) oxide serving as electron acceptor. Geobacter species, including G. sulfurreducens and G. metallireducens, are used for bioremediation and electricity generation from waste organic matter and renewable biomass. The constraint-based modeling approach enables the development of genome-scale in silico models that can predict the behavior of complex biological systems and their responses to the environments. Such a modeling approach was applied to provide physiological and ecological insights on the metabolism of G. metallireducens. RESULTS: The genome-scale metabolic model of G. metallireducens was constructed to include 747 genes and 697 reactions. Compared to the G. sulfurreducens model, the G. metallireducens metabolic model contains 118 unique reactions that reflect many of G. metallireducens' specific metabolic capabilities. Detailed examination of the G. metallireducens model suggests that its central metabolism contains several energy-inefficient reactions that are not present in the G. sulfurreducens model. Experimental biomass yield of G. metallireducens growing on pyruvate was lower than the predicted optimal biomass yield. Microarray data of G. metallireducens growing with benzoate and acetate indicated that genes encoding these energy-inefficient reactions were up-regulated by benzoate. These results suggested that the energy-inefficient reactions were likely turned off during G. metallireducens growth with acetate for optimal biomass yield, but were up-regulated during growth with complex electron donors such as benzoate for rapid energy generation. Furthermore, several computational modeling approaches were applied to accelerate G. metallireducens research. For example, growth of G. metallireducens with different electron donors and electron acceptors were studied using the genome-scale metabolic model, which provided a fast and cost-effective way to understand the metabolism of G. metallireducens. CONCLUSION: We have developed a genome-scale metabolic model for G. metallireducens that features both metabolic similarities and differences to the published model for its close relative, G. sulfurreducens. Together these metabolic models provide an important resource for improving strategies on bioremediation and bioenergy generation. This model is hosted on BioModels Database and identified by: MODEL1507180002. To cite BioModels Database, please use: BioModels Database: An enhanced, curated and annotated resource for published quantitative kinetic models. To the extent possible under law, all copyright and related or neighbouring rights to this encoded model have been dedicated to the public domain worldwide. Please refer to CC0 Public Domain Dedication for more information.

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