Simulation of the integration of the internal energy metabolism and cell cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

AbstractA computer simulation of the integration of the internal energy metabolism and the cell cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is described. This was attempted, for the first time, as a result of the observation that in this organism the overall or average external metabolic exchange rates often differed considerably from the internal metabolic fluxes which they are normally assumed to represent. This was the result of such factors as the variation in the nature of the metabolism of the organism depending on its stage in the cell cycle and redox interactions between anabolism and catabolism. The overall result of this simulation is the prediction of the internal metabolic fluxes consistent with the experimentally determined external fluxes. While these simulation depend on the assumption regarding the energetics and cell cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, they provide a means of examining with precision such processes as the energetics of cell growth and cell cycle variation. As a result, within these limitation, they allow the systematic study of coordinated cell control. Such an approach provides a useful and largely unused adjunct to the experimental approaches which have attempted the study of coordinated metabolic regulation.