S29: Predicting metabolic behaviors of microbial strains in response to genetic and environmental perturbations

Computational modeling and analysis of metabolic networks has been successful in metabolic engineering of microbial strains for biochemical production. We have developed a new constraint-based modeling approach (RELATCH) to predict flux distributions in knockout mutants. We have used RELATCH to predict flux distributions in knockout mutants and compared model predictions to experimental datasets for E. coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Bacillus subtilis. The results indicate that RELATCH more accurately predicts flux distributions, as well as growth rates, compared to existing approaches (FBA, MOMA and ROOM). The developed approach will extend the scope of computational strain design, and can be used to identify novel metabolic engineering strategies for chemical production.