A mathematical model of bacteria capable of complete oxidation of ammonium predicts improved nitrogen removal and reduced production of nitrous oxide

The removal of excess nutrients from water ecosystems requires oxidation of toxic ammonium by two types of bacteria; one oxidizes ammonium to nitrite and the other oxidizes nitrite to nitrate. The oxidation of ammonium is often incomplete and nitrite accumulates. Nitrite is also toxic, and is converted by the ammoniumoxidizing bacteria to nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas. Here we use mathematical modeling to analyze a potential solution to the problems related to incomplete oxidation of ammonium. We propose that a single engineered nitrifying bacterium should be capable of complete oxidation of high concentrations of ammonium to nitrate. Our model is based on available data on ammonium- and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. The model predicts that insertion of highly expressed genes of a nitrite oxidation system into the genome of an ammonia-oxidation bacterium should result in complete oxidation of ammonium to nitrate in nutrient-overloaded conditions. Due to its increased capacity to fully oxidize ammonium to nitrate, the proposed bacterium would display dramatically reduced production of nitrous oxide, and therefore might have great potential to reduce the greenhouse effect of nutrient-overloaded water system

Mathematical modelling of diurnal regulation of carbohydrate allocation by osmo-related processes in plants

Copyright & Usage © 2015 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Optimal efficiency of the Q-cycle mechanism around physiological temperatures from an open quantum systems approach

The Q-cycle mechanism entering the electron and proton transport chain in oxygenic photosynthesis is an example of how biological processes can be efficiently investigated with elementary microscopic models. Here we address the problem of energy transport across the cellular membrane from an open quantum system theoretical perspective. We model the cytochrome $b_6f$ protein complex under cyclic electron flow conditions starting from a simplified kinetic model, which is hereby revisited in terms of a quantum master equation formulation and spin-boson Hamiltonian treatment. We apply this model to theoretically demonstrate an optimal thermodynamic efficiency of the Q-cycle around ambient and physiologically relevant temperature conditions. Furthermore, we determine the quantum yield of this complex biochemical process after setting the electrochemical potentials to values well established in the literature. The present work suggests that the theory of quantum open systems can successfully push forward our theoretical understanding of complex biological systems working close to the quantum/classical boundary.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Pre-submission manuscript, see Journal Reference for the final versio

A minimal mathematical model of nonphotochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence

Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewedPreprin

A generic rate law for surface-active enzymes

AbstractMany biochemical reactions are confined to interfaces, such as membranes or cell walls. Despite their importance, no canonical rate laws describing the kinetics of surface-active enzymes exist. Combining the approach chosen by Michaelis and Menten 100 years ago with concepts from surface chemical physics, we here present an approach to derive generic rate laws of enzymatic processes at surfaces. We illustrate this by a simple reversible conversion on a surface to stress key differences to the classical case in solution. The available area function, a concept from surface physics which enters the rate law, covers different models of adsorption and presents a unifying perspective on saturation effects and competition between enzymes. A remarkable implication is the direct dependence of the rate of a given enzyme on all other enzymatic species able to bind at the surface. The generic approach highlights general principles of the kinetics of surface-active enzymes and allows to build consistent mathematical models of more complex pathways involving reactions at interfaces

MetaPath Online: a web server implementation of the network expansion algorithm

We designed a web server for the analysis of biosynthetic capacities of metabolic networks. The implementation is based on the network expansion algorithm and the concept of scopes. For a given network and predefined external resources, called the seed metabolites, the scope is defined as the set of products which the network is in principle able to produce. Through the web interface the user can select a variety of metabolic networks or provide his or her own list of reactions. The information on the organism-specific networks has been extracted from the KEGG database. By choosing an arbitrary set of seed compounds, the user can obtain the corresponding scopes. With our web server application we provide an easy to use interface to perform a variety of structural and functional network analyses. Problems that can be addressed using the web server include the calculation of synthesizing capacities, the visualization of synthesis pathways, functional analysis of mutant networks or comparative analysis of related species. The web server is accessible through http://scopes.biologie.hu-berlin.de

Mathematical model of a serine integrase-controlled toggle switch with a single input

Dual-state genetic switches that can change their state in response to input signals can be used in synthetic biology to encode memory and control gene expression. A transcriptional toggle switch (TTS), with two mutually repressing transcription regulators, was previously used for switching between two expression states. In other studies, serine integrases have been used to control DNA inversion switches that can alternate between two different states. Both of these switches use two different inputs to switch ON or OFF. Here, we use mathematical modelling to design a robust one-input binary switch, which combines a TTS with a DNA inversion switch. This combined circuit switches between the two states every time it receives a pulse of a single-input signal. The robustness of the switch is based on the bistability of its TTS, while integrase recombination allows single-input control. Unidirectional integrase-RDF-mediated recombination is provided by a recently developed integrase-RDF fusion protein. We show that the switch is stable against parameter variations and molecular noise, making it a promising candidate for further use as a basic element of binary counting devices

Modelling a molecular calendar : the seasonal photoperiodic response in mammals

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A reductionist approach to model photosynthetic self-regulation in eukaryotes in response to light

© 2015 Authors; published by Portland Press Limited. This work was supported by the Marie Curie Initial Training Network AccliPhot financed by the European Union [grant number PITN-GA-2012-316427 (to A.M. and O.E.)]; and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, CEPLAS (EXC 1028) (to O.E.)].Peer reviewedPostprin

Functional Classification of Genome-Scale Metabolic Networks

We propose two strategies to characterize organisms with respect to their metabolic capabilities. The first, investigative, strategy describes metabolic networks in terms of their capability to utilize different carbon sources, resulting in the concept of carbon utilization spectra. In the second, predictive, approach minimal nutrient combinations are predicted from the structure of the metabolic networks, resulting in a characteristic nutrient profile. Both strategies allow for a quantification of functional properties of metabolic networks, allowing to identify groups of organisms with similar functions. We investigate whether the functional description reflects the typical environments of the corresponding organisms by dividing all species into disjoint groups based on whether they are aerotolerant and/or photosynthetic. Despite differences in the underlying concepts, both measures display some common features. Closely related organisms often display a similar functional behavior and in both cases the functional measures appear to correlate with the considered classes of environments. Carbon utilization spectra and nutrient profiles are complementary approaches toward a functional classification of organism-wide metabolic networks. Both approaches contain different information and thus yield different clusterings, which are both different from the classical taxonomy of organisms. Our results indicate that a sophisticated combination of our approaches will allow for a quantitative description reflecting the lifestyles of organisms