1

Microbial Metabolism

Course Introduction

Ching-Tsan Huang (黃慶璨)

Office: Agronomy Building, Room 111

Tel: (02) 33664454

E-mail: cthuang@ntu.edu.tw

2

Course BasicsInstructors黃慶璨 http://cthuang.bst.ntu.edu.tw/

林晉玄 http://www.bst.ntu.edu.tw/faculty/LinCH/LinCH1.htm

SyllabusThe class will meet at the 6th Classroom of

Building No.3 every Tuesday between 10:20 am

and 12:10 pm.

The course covers 16 topics of microbial

metabolism. Before the midterm exam, it includes

7 topics regarding the general concepts. After the

exam, we will spend 9 weeks to discuss the

metabolism of specific species and the progress of

microbial metabolomics and systems microbiology.

3

Reference Books: General

Prescott’s Microbiology, Ninth edition, 2014. Willey,

Sherwood, and Woolverton (Eds.) McGraw Hill

Companies

Microbial Physiology and Metabolism. Vikas Chaudhary

(Ed.) Navyug Publishers & Distributors, 2008.

The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes, Third

Edition, David White (Ed.). Oxford University Press,

2007.

Bacterial Physiology: A Molecular Approach. Walid El-

Sharoud (Ed.). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2008.

4

Reference Books: Specific

Physiology and Biochemistry of Extremophiles, 2007

Gerday and Glansdorff (Eds.), ASM Press

Rumen Microbiology, 2003

Dehority (Ed.), Nottingham University Press

Metabolome Analysis: An Introduction, Villas-Boas et al.

(Eds.) John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007.

Metabolic Engineering in the Post Genomic Era, 2005

Kholodenko and Westerhoff (Eds.), Horizon Bioscience

5

IntroductionDefinition

Physiology: The study of life processes in living cells

Metabolism: The total of all chemical reactions in cells

Why microbial metabolism?

Transport

Chemical Work

Mechanical

Heat

Physiology Metabolism

Photosynthesis

Maintenance

Growth

Respiration

Reproduction

Fermentation

Catabolism

Anabolism

Light Energy

6

Substrates Products

Energy

Catabolism

Anabolism

Light Energy

Photosynthesis

Enzymes

Overview of metabolism

Purpose: Trapping, generation and use of energy

Where: within cells (under controlled temperature and pH)

How: catalyzed by enzymes

7

Metabolism of microorganisms

Interchangeable

Macro- to micro-molecules or vice versa

Polysaccharides

Lipids

Proteins

Nucleic acids

Monosaccharides

Fatty acids, glycerol

Amino acids

Nucleotides

CO2

H2O, O2

NH4+, NO3

-

PO4-, SO4

=

CatabolismAnabolism

Polymers Monomers Molecules

8

Procaryotic and Eucaryotic Cell Structure

9

EukaryaArchaeaBacteria

Universal Phylogenetic Tree

10

Diverse Environments

11

Microbial Nutrition and Metabolism

12

Diversity in Nutritional Requirements

Inversely related to its physiological complexityThe more things an organism makes for itself, the

fewer things with which it must be presupplied.

Some microbes require a great many thing for growth

while others require a few.

Most microbes require fewer nutrients than do

large life forms.

The function of nutrient requirement by a

microbe is similar or identical to that of a

large life form.

13

Large life formsComplex structurally

Relatively speaking, simple physiologically

MicroorganismsSimple morphologically

Complex physiologically

Complex metabolically

AdaptabilityCarry out metabolism from a tremendous variety

of organic materials

Can use radiant energy

Survive in a diversity of environments

Metabolic versatility and adaptability

14

Integration of Metabolism

htt

p://e

uclid

.dne

.wvfib

ern

et.ne

t/~

jvg

/Bio

208

/Mic

robia

l_M

eta

bo

lism

.htm

l

15

Metabolism of Complex

Carbohydrates

htt

p://g

eno

me.o

rnl.go

v/m

icro

bia

l/rs

ph

/1/R

ES

_P

RIA

M/m

ap

0117

0_

org

.htm

l

16Metabolic Pathway

htt

p://g

eno

me.o

rnl.go

v/m

icro

bia

l/rs

ph

/1/R

ES

_P

RIA

M/m

ap

0110

0_

org

.htm

l

17

18

Source: U.S. Department of Energy Genome Programs http://genomics.energy.gov.

19

From MB to MB, MP to ME

Microbial

Biochemistry

Microbial

Physiology

Metabolic

EngineeringMolecular

Biology

Microbial

Metabolism

20

Microbial Metabolism Course

Microbial

physiology

Nutrition, growth and cultivation

Primary and secondary metabolites

Quorum sensing and biofilms

Microbial

biochemistry

Biocatalysis and biodegradation databases

Catabolism and Anabolism

Biodegradation of lignocellulosic wastes

Biodegradation of xenobiotic compounds

Microbial

diversity

Extremophiles

Rumen microbes

Rhizobium

RegulationHeterogeneous gene expression

Metabolic engineering

OmicsMicrobial metabolomics

Systems microbiology