Posttranslational regulation of microbial metabolism
In a review published in "Current opinion in Microbiology“, we discuss the division-of-labor between the different regulatory layers in making microbial metabolic decisions, and highlight the current challenges we are facing when elucidating the role of posttranslational regulation.
Abstract
Fluxes in microbial metabolism are controlled by various regulatory layers, all of which alter the abundance or activity of metabolic enzymes. Recent studies suggest a division of labor between these layers: transcriptional regulation mostly controls the allocation of protein resources, passive flux regulation by enzyme saturation and thermodynamics allows rapid responses at the expense of higher protein cost, and posttranslational regulation is utilized by cells to directly take control of metabolic decisions. In this review, we present recent advances in elucidating the role of these regulatory layers, focusing on posttranslational modifications and allosteric interactions. As the systematic mapping of posttranslational regulatory events has now become possible, the next challenge is to identify those regulatory events that are functionally relevant under a given condition. Understanding precisely how a regulatory signal affects metabolic function might facilitate metabolic engineering projects by solving potential bottlenecks in non-native pathways.
Reference
Karl Kochanowski, Uwe Sauer, Elad Noor, external page Posttranslational regulation of microbial metabolism, Current Opinion in Microbiology