title: Genome scale metabolic reconstruction of Chlorella variabilis for exploring its metabolic potential for biofuels.
abstract: A compartmentalized genome scale metabolic network was reconstructed for Chlorella variabilis to offer insight into various metabolic potentials from this alga. The model, iAJ526, was reconstructed with 1455 reactions, 1236 metabolites and 526 genes. 21% of the reactions were transport reactions and about 81% of the total reactions were associated with enzymes. Along with gap filling reactions, 2 major sub-pathways were added to the model, chitosan synthesis and rhamnose metabolism. The reconstructed model had reaction participation of 4.3 metabolites per reaction and average lethality fraction of 0.21. The model was effective in capturing the growth of C. variabilis under three light conditions (white, red and red+blue light) with fair agreement. This reconstructed metabolic network will serve an important role in systems biology for further exploration of metabolism for specific target metabolites and enable improved characteristics in the strain through metabolic engineering.
authors.affiliation: Biological and Ecological Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Ankita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Juneja
authors.affiliation: Biological and Ecological Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Frank W R
authors.initials: FWR
authors.lastname: Chaplen
authors.affiliation: Biological and Ecological Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. Electronic address: ganti.murthy@oregonstate.edu.
authors.forename: Ganti S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Murthy
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D002708:Chlorella / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D016678:Genome; D060847:Metabolic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D064688:Metabolic Flux Analysis; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels
keywords: Algae; Chlorella variabilis; Flux balance analysis; Genome scale reconstruction; Metabolic reconstruction