A Genome-Scale Metabolic Network Reconstruction of the Thermophilic Bacterium Rhodothermus Marinus DSM 4252

Rhodothermus marinus is an aerobic thermophilic bacterium which was first isolated from submarine alkaline freshwater hot springs in North-west Iceland. It is a gram-negative, red-pigmented rod with optimum growth conditions at 65°C. R. marinus is of potential interest in biotechnology for several reasons. First, it produces large quantities of deep red carotenoids in the form of carotenoid glucosides and their derivatives. Secondly, R. marinus produces and secretes a great variety of hydrolases and lyases and is active on a range of lignocellulosic and macroalgal polysaccharides such as alginate. Finally, metabolic engineering tools have already been developed.

We recently reconstructed the metabolic network of R. marinus DSM 4252. A draft reconstruction was initially generated from the genome sequence that was then carefully curated using bibliomic and experimental data. Special emphasis was put on modeling carotenoid biosynthesis and saccharide degrading pathways in detail.

The reconstructed network was used to study knowledge gaps in the central metabolism, including an apparently incomplete non-mevalonate pathway. The network was further used to perform in-silico metabolic engineering experiments aimed at increasing the production of various terpenoids and polyamines as well as improving the utilization of various complex carbohydrates.