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Integrative Thermodynamic Strategies in Microbial Metabolism.

Martijn Bekker1, Oliver Ebenhöh2

  • 1Data Science & Informatics and Supply Chain Design, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 WG Wageningen, The Netherlands.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences
|November 27, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Microbial metabolism under nutrient limitations shows more negative Gibbs free energy (ΔG) per biomass than carbon limits. This suggests microbes adapt by optimizing proteome allocation and energy status for nutrient uptake.

Keywords:
biotechnologycatabolismmetabolismmicroorganismsthermodynamics

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Area of Science:

  • Microbial Physiology
  • Biochemical Thermodynamics
  • Metabolic Engineering

Background:

  • Microbial metabolism is governed by thermodynamic constraints influencing efficiency and growth.
  • Prior studies focused on carbon limitation, revealing proteomic resource optimization for balancing efficiency and growth.
  • This research expands the thermodynamic framework to non-carbon nutrient limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate microbial metabolic strategies under various nutrient limitations (nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur) using a thermodynamic lens.
  • To compare Gibbs free energy (ΔG) of the net catabolic reaction (NCR) per biomass across different nutrient limitation scenarios.
  • To propose hypotheses explaining observed thermodynamic differences in microbial growth.

Main Methods:

  • Integrative analysis of literature data from diverse microbial species.
  • Thermodynamic calculations of Gibbs free energy (ΔG) for the net catabolic reaction (NCR).
  • Comparison of ΔG values under carbon-limited versus anabolic nutrient-limited conditions.

Main Results:

  • Microbial growth under anabolic nutrient limitations consistently resulted in more negative ΔG values for the NCR per unit of biomass compared to carbon-limited growth.
  • This thermodynamic difference suggests distinct microbial adaptation strategies under varying nutrient stresses.
  • Findings support the integration of thermodynamic principles into understanding microbial adaptation.

Conclusions:

  • Three hypotheses were proposed: proteome allocation favoring faster enzymes for nutrient transport, increased reliance on ATP-coupled transport, and preference for pathways enhancing cellular energy status.
  • Thermodynamic analysis provides a broader understanding of microbial adaptation to nutrient limitations.
  • Insights are valuable for metabolic engineering and optimizing microbial processes in biotechnology.