A Computational Toolbox to Investigate the Metabolic Potential and Resource Allocation in Fission Yeast.

The fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, is a popular eukaryal model organism for cell division and cell cycle studies. With this extensive knowledge of its cell and molecular biology, S. pombe also holds promise for use in metabolism research and industrial applications.

Understanding FBA Solutions under Multiple Nutrient Limitations.

Genome-scale stoichiometric modeling methods, in particular Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) and variations thereof, are widely used to investigate cell metabolism and to optimize biotechnological processes. Given (1) a metabolic network, which can be reconstructed from an organism's genome sequence, and (2) constraints on reaction rates, which may be based on measured nutrient uptake rates, FBA predicts which reactions maximize an objective flux, usually the production of cell components. Although FBA solutions may accurately predict the metabolic behavior of a cell, the actual flux predictions are often hard to interpret.

Proteome constraints reveal targets for improving microbial fitness in nutrient-rich environments.

Cells adapt to different conditions via gene expression that tunes metabolism for maximal fitness. Constraints on cellular proteome may limit such expression strategies and introduce trade-offs. Resource allocation under proteome constraints has explained regulatory strategies in bacteria.

Lifestyle, metabolism and environmental adaptation in Lactococcus lactis.

Lactococcus lactis serves as a paradigm organism for the lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Extensive research into the molecular biology, metabolism and physiology of several model strains of this species has been fundamental for our understanding of the LAB. Genomic studies have provided new insights into the species L.