TnSeq analysis of Bacterial Methyotrophy published in Current Biology

Methylotrophy is the capacity of bacteria to growth on single carbon compounds such as Methanol. Understanding the gene set involved in methylotrophy is highly relevant towards developing new applications for sustainable energy production. Using transposon sequencing, we have assessed the genome of Methylobacterium extorquens and uncovered almost 100 new methylotrophy genes. Among these genes, we identified the Calvin cycle enzyme phosphoribulokinase that controls carbon assimilation through a novel regulatory mechanism.