title: An experimentally-supported genome-scale metabolic network reconstruction for Yersinia pestis CO92.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Yersinia pestis is a gram-negative bacterium that causes plague, a disease linked historically to the Black Death in Europe during the Middle Ages and to several outbreaks during the modern era. Metabolism in Y. pestis displays remarkable flexibility and robustness, allowing the bacterium to proliferate in both warm-blooded mammalian hosts and cold-blooded insect vectors such as fleas.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here we report a genome-scale reconstruction and mathematical model of metabolism for Y. pestis CO92 and supporting experimental growth and metabolite measurements. The model contains 815 genes, 678 proteins, 963 unique metabolites and 1678 reactions, accurately simulates growth on a range of carbon sources both qualitatively and quantitatively, and identifies gaps in several key biosynthetic pathways and suggests how those gaps might be filled. Furthermore, our model presents hypotheses to explain certain known nutritional requirements characteristic of this strain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Y. pestis continues to be a dangerous threat to human health during modern times. The Y. pestis genome-scale metabolic reconstruction presented here, which has been benchmarked against experimental data and correctly reproduces known phenotypes, provides an in silico platform with which to investigate the metabolism of this important human pathogen.
authors: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA. pcharusanti@ucsd.edu
authors: Pep
authors: P
authors: Charusanti
authors: Sadhana
authors: S
authors: Chauhan
authors: Kathleen
authors: K
authors: McAteer
authors: Joshua A
authors: JA
authors: Lerman
authors: Daniel R
authors: DR
authors: Hyduke
authors: Vladimir L
authors: VL
authors: Motin
authors: Charles
authors: C
authors: Ansong
authors: Joshua N
authors: JN
authors: Adkins
authors: Bernhard O
authors: BO
authors: Palsson
mesh_terms: D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods; D010641:Phenotype; D049490:Systems Biology / Q000379:methods; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*