AUTHOR=Marbehan Xavier , Roger Magali , Fournier Frantz , Infossi Pascale , Guedon Emmanuel , Delecourt Louis , Lebrun Régine , Giudici-Orticoni Marie-Thérèse , Delaunay Stéphane 

TITLE=Combining metabolic flux analysis with proteomics to shed light on the metabolic flexibility: the case of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1336360

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2024.1336360

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p><italic>Desulfovibrio vulgaris</italic> Hildenborough is a gram-negative anaerobic bacterium belonging to the sulfate-reducing bacteria that exhibits highly versatile metabolism. By switching from one energy mode to another depending on nutrients availability in the environments„ it plays a central role in shaping ecosystems. Despite intensive efforts to study <italic>D. vulgaris</italic> energy metabolism at the genomic, biochemical and ecological level, bioenergetics in this microorganism remain far from being fully understood. Alternatively, metabolic modeling is a powerful tool to understand bioenergetics. However, all the current models for <italic>D. vulgaris</italic> appeared to be not easily adaptable to various environmental conditions.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>To lift off these limitations, here we constructed a novel transparent and robust metabolic model to explain <italic>D. vulgaris</italic> bioenergetics by combining whole-cell proteomic analysis with modeling approaches (Flux Balance Analysis).</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The iDvu71 model showed over 0.95 correlation with experimental data. Further simulations allowed a detailed description of <italic>D. vulgaris</italic> metabolism in various conditions of growth. Altogether, the simulations run in this study highlighted the sulfate-to-lactate consumption ratio as a pivotal factor in <italic>D. vulgaris</italic> energy metabolism.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>In particular, the impact on the hydrogen/formate balance and biomass synthesis is discussed. Overall, this study provides a novel insight into <italic>D. vulgaris</italic> metabolic flexibility.</p></sec>