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central carbohydrate metabolism, crenarchaeon, silicon cell model, Sulfolobus solfataricus, systems biology, temperature variation.
Abstract:
SulfoSYS (Sulfolobus Systems Biology) focuses on the study of the CCM (central carbohydrate metabolism)
of Sulfolobus solfataricus and its regulation under temperature variation at the systems level. In Archaea,
carbohydrates are metabolized by modifications of the classical pathways known from Bacteria or Eukarya,
e.g. the unusual branched ED (Entner–Doudoroff) pathway, which is utilized for glucose degradation
in S. solfataricus. This archaeal model organism of choice is a thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon that
optimally grows at 80◦C (60–92◦C) and pH 2–4. In general, life at high temperature requires very efficient
adaptation to temperature changes, which is most difficult to deal with for organisms, and it is unclear how
biological networks can withstand and respond to such changes. This integrative project combines genomic,
transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic, as well as kinetic and biochemical information. The final goal of
SulfoSYS is the construction of a silicon cell model for this part of the living cell that will enable computation
of the CCM network. In the present paper, we report on one of the first archaeal systems biology projects.
