Stoichiometric Network Analysis of Cyanobacterial Acclimation to Photosynthesis-Associated Stresses Identifies Heterotrophic Niches
1
Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
2
Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
3
Chemical and Biological Engineering, Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Michael Henson
Processes 2017, 5(2), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr5020032
Received: 19 April 2017 / Revised: 9 June 2017 / Accepted: 14 June 2017 / Published: 19 June 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Community Modeling: Prediction of Microbial Interactions and Community Dynamics)
Metabolic acclimation to photosynthesis-associated stresses was examined in the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1 using integrated computational and photobioreactor analyses. A genome-enabled metabolic model, complete with measured biomass composition, was analyzed using ecological resource allocation theory to predict and interpret metabolic acclimation to irradiance, O2, and nutrient stresses. Reduced growth efficiency, shifts in photosystem utilization, changes in photorespiration strategies, and differing byproduct secretion patterns were predicted to occur along culturing stress gradients. These predictions were compared with photobioreactor physiological data and previously published transcriptomic data and found to be highly consistent with observations, providing a systems-based rationale for the culture phenotypes. The analysis also indicated that cyanobacterial stress acclimation strategies created niches for heterotrophic organisms and that heterotrophic activity could enhance cyanobacterial stress tolerance by removing inhibitory metabolic byproducts. This study provides mechanistic insight into stress acclimation strategies in photoautotrophs and establishes a framework for predicting, designing, and engineering both axenic and photoautotrophic-heterotrophic systems as a function of controllable parameters.
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Keywords:
cross-feeding; cyanobacteria; elementary flux mode analysis; irradiance; resource allocation; RuBisCO; stress acclimation
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MDPI and ACS Style
Beck, A.E.; Bernstein, H.C.; Carlson, R.P. Stoichiometric Network Analysis of Cyanobacterial Acclimation to Photosynthesis-Associated Stresses Identifies Heterotrophic Niches. Processes 2017, 5, 32.
AMA Style
Beck AE, Bernstein HC, Carlson RP. Stoichiometric Network Analysis of Cyanobacterial Acclimation to Photosynthesis-Associated Stresses Identifies Heterotrophic Niches. Processes. 2017; 5(2):32.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBeck, Ashley E.; Bernstein, Hans C.; Carlson, Ross P. 2017. "Stoichiometric Network Analysis of Cyanobacterial Acclimation to Photosynthesis-Associated Stresses Identifies Heterotrophic Niches" Processes 5, no. 2: 32.
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