Journal article
Underground metabolism: network-level perspective and biotechnological potential
Wageningen University & Research1
Hungarian Academy of Sciences2
Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark3
ALE Technology & Software Development, Research Groups, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark4
Network Reconstruction in Silico Biology, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark5
A key challenge in molecular systems biology is understanding how new pathways arise during evolution and how to exploit them for biotechnological applications. New pathways in metabolic networks often evolve by recruiting weak promiscuous activities of pre-existing enzymes. Here we describe recent systems biology advances to map such ‘underground’ activities and to predict and analyze their contribution to new metabolic functions.
Underground activities are prevalent in cellular metabolism and can form novel pathways that either enable evolutionary adaptation to new environments or provide bypass to genetic lesions. We also illustrate the potential of integrating computational models of underground metabolism and experimental approaches to study the evolution of novel metabolic phenotypes and advance the field of biotechnology.
Language: | English |
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Year: | 2018 |
Pages: | 108-114 |
ISSN: | 09581669 and 18790429 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.copbio.2017.07.015 |
ORCIDs: | Feist, Adam and 0000-0003-3093-8852 |