title: Controlling the Cyanobacterial Clock by Synthetically Rewiring Metabolism.
abstract: Circadian clocks are oscillatory systems that allow organisms to anticipate rhythmic changes in the environment. Several studies have shown that circadian clocks are connected to metabolism, but it is not generally clear whether metabolic signaling is one voice among many that influence the clock or whether metabolic cycling is the major clock synchronizer. To address this question in cyanobacteria, we used a synthetic biology approach to make normally autotrophic cells capable of growth on exogenous sugar. This allowed us to manipulate metabolism independently from light and dark. We found that feeding sugar to cultures blocked the clock-resetting effect of a dark pulse. Furthermore, in the absence of light, the clock efficiently synchronizes to metabolic cycles driven by rhythmic feeding. We conclude that metabolic activity, independent of its source, is the primary clock driver in cyanobacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology, 900 E. 57th Street, KCBD 10124, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Gopal K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Pattanayak
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology, 900 E. 57th Street, KCBD 10124, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology, 900 E. 57th Street, KCBD 10124, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bernat
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology, 900 E. 57th Street, KCBD 10124, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Electronic address: mrust@uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rust
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D057906:Circadian Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D008027:Light; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; D005947:Glucose