Issue 11, 2014

A metabolic trade-off between phosphate and glucose utilization in Escherichia coli

Abstract

Getting the most out of available nutrients is a key challenge that all organisms face. Little is known about how they optimize and balance the simultaneous utilization of multiple elemental resources. We investigated the effects of long-term phosphate limitation on carbon metabolism of the model organism Escherichia coli using chemostat cultures. We profiled metabolic changes in the growth medium over time and found evidence for an increase in fermentative metabolism despite the aerobic conditions. Using full-genome sequencing and competition experiments, we found that fitness under phosphate-limiting conditions was reproducibly increased by a mutation preventing flux through succinate in the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In contrast, these mutations reduced competitive ability under carbon limitation, and thus reveal a conflicting metabolic benefit in the role of the TCA cycle in environments limited by inorganic phosphate and glucose.

Graphical abstract: A metabolic trade-off between phosphate and glucose utilization in Escherichia coli

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
23 May 2014
Accepted
08 Aug 2014
First published
11 Aug 2014

Mol. BioSyst., 2014,10, 2820-2822

Author version available

A metabolic trade-off between phosphate and glucose utilization in Escherichia coli

V. Behrends, R. P. Maharjan, B. Ryall, L. Feng, B. Liu, L. Wang, J. G. Bundy and T. Ferenci, Mol. BioSyst., 2014, 10, 2820 DOI: 10.1039/C4MB00313F

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