ArcA redox mutants as a source of reduced bioproducts

Escherichia coli and other facultative anaerobes can adapt their metabolism according to oxygen availability by means of aerobic and anaerobic respiration and fermentation. ArcAB is a two-component signal transduction system that controls, at the transcriptional level, the choice of energy generation pathway according to the intracellular redox state. High throughput studies on different redox regulator mutants, involving transcriptome analysis, RT-PCR and phenotypic arrays enabled the elucidation of a repertoire of operons coordinated by ArcA which extended beyond respiration control including, among others, those which code for survival, chromosome replication and degradation of fatty acids. Flux analysis by C-13 labeling provided new clues to the understanding of the distribution of metabolites mediated by ArcAB. The genetic manipulation of this regulator proved to be useful for the generation of reduced products of commercial value. Copyright (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.