Decoupling of Global Metabolic Flux and Proteome Partitioning in Bacteria
- This event already took place in September 2025
- Carson Family Auditorium (CRC)
Event Details
- Type
- Center for Studies in Physics and Biology Seminars
- Speaker(s)
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Suckjoon Jun, professor, University of California, San Diego
- Speaker bio(s)
-
Bacteria regulate homeostatic growth by adjusting proteome composition. In Escherichia coli, this coordination is mediated by (p)ppGpp, which couples amino acid supply with ribosome production. We identify a distinct architecture in Bacillus subtilis, where GTP -- not (p)ppGpp -- controls proteome allocation. Translational inhibition results in GTP depletion and suppresses amino acid biosynthesis via feedback inhibition without altering ribosome abundance, decoupling global amino-acid flux from proteome composition. By artificially tuning GTP, we recoupled flux and proteome, restoring growth to maximal levels. The regulated sub-optimality enables a tradeoff to balance growth and stress resilience. Similar GTP-based strategies suggest evolutionary conservation in Firmicutes. These findings call for a revised view of bacterial physiology, where proteome composition and metabolic flux represent distinct regulatory layers.
- Open to
- Public
- Phone
- (212) 327-8636
- Sponsor
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Melanie Lee
(212) 327-8636
leem@rockefeller.edu