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The post‐transcriptional regulatory system CSR controls the balance of metabolic pools in upper glycolysis of Escherichia coli
Author(s) -
Morin Ma,
Ropers Delphine,
Letisse Fabien,
Laguerre Sandrine,
Portais JeanCharles,
CocaignBousquet Muriel,
Enjalbert Brice
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/mmi.13343
Subject(s) - glycolysis , biology , mutant , phosphofructokinase , transcriptional regulation , regulator , biochemistry , metabolite , regulation of gene expression , escherichia coli , enzyme , microbiology and biotechnology , gene expression , gene
Summary Metabolic control in Escherichia coli is a complex process involving multilevel regulatory systems but the involvement of post‐transcriptional regulation is uncertain. The post‐transcriptional factor CsrA is stated as being the only regulator essential for the use of glycolytic substrates. A dozen enzymes in the central carbon metabolism (CCM) have been reported as potentially controlled by CsrA, but its impact on the CCM functioning has not been demonstrated. Here, a multiscale analysis was performed in a wild‐type strain and its isogenic mutant attenuated for CsrA (including growth parameters, gene expression levels, metabolite pools, abundance of enzymes and fluxes). Data integration and regulation analysis showed a coordinated control of the expression of glycolytic enzymes. This also revealed the imbalance of metabolite pools in the csrA mutant upper glycolysis, before the phosphofructokinase PfkA step. This imbalance is associated with a glucose–phosphate stress. Restoring PfkA activity in the csrA mutant strain suppressed this stress and increased the mutant growth rate on glucose. Thus, the carbon storage regulator system is essential for the effective functioning of the upper glycolysis mainly through its control of PfkA. This work demonstrates the pivotal role of post‐transcriptional regulation to shape the carbon metabolism.