Protein allocation and utilization in the versatile chemolithoautotroph Cupriavidus necator.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria must balance the different needs for substrate assimilation, growth functions, and resilience in order to thrive in their environment. Of all cellular macromolecules, the bacterial proteome is by far the most important resource and its size is limited. Here, we investigated how the highly versatile 'knallgas' bacterium Cupriavidus necator reallocates protein resources when grown on different limiting substrates and with different growth rates. We determined protein quantity by mass spectrometry and estimated enzyme utilization by resource balance analysis modeling. We found that C. necator invests a large fraction of its proteome in functions that are hardly utilized. Of the enzymes that are utilized, many are present in excess abundance. One prominent example is the

SUBMITTER: Jahn M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8591527 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature