MediaWiki

SysMO project: “Systems Biology of a genetically engineered Pseudomonas fluorescens with inducible exopolysaccharide production: analysis of the dynamics and robustness of metabolic networks.”

Alginate Production in Pseudomonas Fluorescens

Pseudomonas fluorescens are unicellular bacteria with an extremely versatile metabolism as depicted in Fig. 1. The species is relevant because it is involved in several applications such as plant growth, antibiotics production and milk spoilage.

Fig. 1: Central metabolism of Pseudomonas fluorescens.

With a particular view to exopolysaccharide alginate biosynthesis, this SysMO research project systematically explores the dynamics and robustness of metabolic networks in genetically engineered P. fluorescens bacteria. Alginate production is controlled by the addition of external inducers. Network responses from different levels of induction are collected and analyzed. The resulting information is used to accurately model the metabolic network of P. fluorescens.

The model also applies novel Artificial Intelligence and Evolutionary Computation algorithms to identify gene-knockout targets that affect alginate production. The project applies both a top-down and a bottom-up approach to Systems Biology. The top-down approach involves the analysis of a large quantity of data. The bottom-up approach involves the construction of a genome-scale metabolic model based on the genomic and biochemical information.

As one of its eleven research projects, this project is supported by the SysMO research consortium.

Systems Biology of Microorganisms: what is SysMO?

SysMO is a multidisciplinary research consortium that builds on the strength of research expertise and funding from six European countries. The project transcends national boundaries with partners from Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom and Spain. The objective is to systematically study and understand the dynamic molecular process of unicellular microorganisms. The intended outcome is the synthesis of this molecular process into comprehensive computerized mathematical models.