Assessing methanotrophy and carbon fixation for biofuel production by Methanosarcina acetivorans

Methanosarcina acetivorans is a model archaeon with renewed interest due to its unique reversible methane production pathways. However, the mechanism and relevant pathways implicated in (co)utilizing novel carbon substrates in this organism are still not fully understood. This paper provides a compr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microbial cell factories 2016-01, Vol.15 (10), p.10-10, Article 10
Main Authors: Nazem-Bokaee, Hadi, Gopalakrishnan, Saratram, Ferry, James G, Wood, Thomas K, Maranas, Costas D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Biofuels
Biomass energy
Carbon
Carbon - metabolism
Carbonates
Genes
genome-scale metabolic model
Genomes
Genomics
Greenhouse gases
Metabolism
Metabolites
methane utilization
Methanosarcina - metabolism
Methanosarcina acetivorans
Proteomics
Thermodynamics
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Summary:Methanosarcina acetivorans is a model archaeon with renewed interest due to its unique reversible methane production pathways. However, the mechanism and relevant pathways implicated in (co)utilizing novel carbon substrates in this organism are still not fully understood. This paper provides a comprehensive inventory of thermodynamically feasible routes for anaerobic methane oxidation, co-reactant utilization, and maximum carbon yields of major biofuel candidates by M. acetivorans. Here, an updated genome-scale metabolic model of M. acetivorans is introduced (iMAC868 containing 868 genes, 845 reactions, and 718 metabolites) by integrating information from two previously reconstructed metabolic models (i.e., iVS941 and iMB745), modifying 17 reactions, adding 24 new reactions, and revising 64 gene-protein-reaction associations based on newly available information. The new model establishes improved predictions of growth yields on native substrates and is capable of correctly predicting the knockout outcomes for 27 out of 28 gene deletion mutants. By tracing a bifurcated electron flow mechanism, the iMAC868 model predicts thermodynamically feasible (co)utilization pathway of methane and bicarbonate using various terminal electron acceptors through the reversal of the aceticlastic pathway. This effort paves the way in informing the search for thermodynamically feasible ways of (co)utilizing novel carbon substrates in the domain Archaea.
ISSN:1475-2859
1475-2859
DOI:10.1186/s12934-015-0404-4