SCyCode Z-Projekt

The Autotrophy-Heterotrophy Switch in Cyanobacteria: Coherent Decision- Making at Multiple Regulatory Layers (Forschergruppe)

01/01/2019 to 31/12/2021

Cyanobacteria are the only prokaryotes performing oxygenic photosynthesis. They
had and have tremendous influence on the biogeochemical cycles on Earth. Recently,
cyanobacteria are increasingly investigated as cell factories for a sustainable
economy. Despite their global, environmental and rising economic importance, our
knowledge on the regulation of their primary metabolism is fragmented.
Cyanobacteria switch between photoautotrophic and heterotrophic modes of
metabolism during day/night cycles or under specific environmental conditions with
the enzymatic capacity for both life-styles being present in one cell. It is not
understood how this remarkable metabolic plasticity, which requires coherent
decisions at multiple layers in response to different external and internal signals, is
achieved. Our research network aims at answering this major unsolved question. We
will address the function and control of key enzymes, pathways and regulators of Cmetabolism
and their interplay to unveil the (hidden) regulatory layers that organize
the central metabolic routes. Therefore, the consortium, composed of experts with
complementary skills, will use the model strain Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 for an
integrative application of advanced biochemical, transcriptomic, fluxomic, and
proteomic methods.