Elementary flux mode analysis of central carbon metabolism of Geobactersulfurreducens PCA for electricity production

Geobactersulfurreducens PCA, a delta-proteobacterium has the ability to transfer electrons directly onto the surface of electrodes, which play a crucial role in bioremediation and electricity production. Improving succinate production improves electron transfer and in turn it improves electricity generation in this organism. A pathway reconstruction was carried out for the central carbon metabolism. Elementary flux mode analysis of the reconstructed pathway was carried out and 87 modes were obtained. From the obtained modes, 8 best modes were identified and flux optimization was carried out using Linear Programming in CellNetAnalyzer. Three gene knock-outs namely 2-oxoglutarate synthase, pyruvate synthase, citrate oxaloacetate-lyase were proposed for flux optimization towards succinate. These in silico gene knock-outs yielded a seven fold increase towards succinate. This study will help in producing a better mutant for electricity production.