A physiology study of Escherichia coli overexpressing phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase

To determine whether intracellular ATP levels can be affected, Escherichia coli overexpressing phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pck) or phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (ppc) were grown in glucose minimal medium. The Pck-overexpressing cells showed approximately twice the intracellular ATP concentration, with 22% slower growth than the Ppc-overexpressing strain. This unexpected result of higher ATP coupled with slower growth is discussed based on transcriptome analysis.