Identifying the Growth Modulon of Corynebacterium glutamicum

The growth rate (μ) of industrially relevant microbes, such as Corynebacterium glutamicum, is a fundamental property that indicates its production capacity. Therefore, understanding the mechanism underlying the growth rate is imperative for improving productivity and performance through metabolic engineering. Despite recent progress in the understanding of global regulatory interactions, knowledge of mechanisms directing cell growth remains fragmented and incomplete. The current study investigated RNA-Seq data of three growth rate transitions, induced by different pre-culture conditions, in order to identify transcriptomic changes corresponding to increasing growth rates. These transitions took place in minimal medium and ranged from 0.02 to 0.4 h(-1) μ. This study enabled the identification of 447 genes as components of the growth modulon. Enrichment of genes within the growth modulon revealed 10 regulons exhibiting a significant effect over growth rate transition. In summary, central metabolism was observed to be regulated by a combination of metabolic and transcriptional activities orchestrating control over glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Additionally, major responses to changes in the growth rate were linked to iron uptake and carbon metabolism. In particular, genes encoding glycolytic enzymes and the glucose uptake system showed a positive correlation with the growth rate.