Scientific Publications
Genome-Scale Metabolic Modelling Approach to Understand Metabolism of the Opportunistic Human Pathogen Staphylococcus epidermidis RP62A
Metabolites, 12(2)
Staphylococcus epidermidis is a common commensal of collagen rich regions of the body, such as the skin, but also represents a threat to patients with medical implants (joints and heart), and to preterm babies. Far less studied than Staphylococcus aureus, the mechanisms behind this increasingly recognised pathogenicity are yet to be fully understood. Improving our knowledge of the metabolic processes that allow S. epidermidis to colonise different body sites is key to defining its pathogenic potential. Thus, we have constructed a fully curated, genome-scale metabolic model for S. epidermidis RP62A, investigated its metabolic properties with a focus on substrate auxotrophies and its utilisation for energy and biomass production. Our results show that despite glucose being available in the medium, only small portion of it enters glycolytic pathways whilst most is utilised for production of biofilm, storage and structural components of biomass. Rather amino acids, proline, valine, alanine, glutamate and arginine, are preferred sources for energy and biomass production. In contrast to previous studies, we have shown that this strain has no real substrate auxotrophies though removal of proline from the media has the highest impact in the model and on the experimental growth characteristics. Further study is needed to determine the significance of proline, an abundant amino acid in collagen, in S. epidermidis colonisation.
Metabolites, 12(2)
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