Metabolic network analysis of Bacillus clausii on minimal and semirich medium using (13)C-labeled glucose

Using (13)C-labeled glucose fed to the facultative alkalophilic Bacillus clausii producing the alkaline serine protease Savinase, the intracellular fluxes were quantified in continuous cultivation and in batch cultivation on a minimal medium. The flux through the pentose phosphate pathway was found to increase with increasing specific growth rate but at a much lower level than previously reported for Bacillus subtilis. Two futile cycles in the pyruvate metabolism were included in the metabolic network. A substantial flux in the futile cycle involving malic enzyme was estimated, whereas only a very small or zero flux through PEP carboxykinase was estimated, indicating that the latter enzyme was not active during growth on glucose. The uptake of the amino acids in a semirich medium containing 15 of the 20 amino acids normally present in proteins was estimated using fully labeled glucose in batch cultivations. It was found that leucine, isoleucine, and phenylalanine were taken up from the medium and not synthesized de novo from glucose. In contrast, serine and threonine were completely synthesized from other metabolites and not taken up from the medium. Valine, proline, and lysine were partly taken up from the medium and partly synthesized from glucose. The metabolic network analysis was extended to include analysis of growth on the semirich medium containing amino acids, and the metabolic flux distribution on this medium was estimated and compared with growth on minimal medium.