Microbial Ecology , Proteogenomics , and Computational Optima 1 Flux Balance Based Whole-Cell Modeling of the Marine Cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus

The marine unicellular cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus is the dominant oxygenic phototroph in the tropical and subtropical oceans, and contributes to a significant fraction of the global photosynthesis (Rocap et al, 2003). Our goal in this project is to develop whole-cell mathematical models for studying the metabolism of this cyanobacterium using flux balance based approaches, which has proven very successful in performing whole-cell modeling for a variety of microorganisms (Price et al, 2003). An especially interesting challenge is the inclusion of photosynthesis pathway in our model. Night-day cycles are known to play a central role in the metabolism of Prochlrococcus, and different strains are adapted to different light intensities and wavelengths. Flux balance models give the opportunity to study quantitatively the influence of photon fluxes on global cell behavior.