OPTIMAL STRUCTURE OF TRICARBOXYLIC-ACID CYCLE MULTIENZYME SYSTEM OF ESCHERICHIA-COLI FOR GROWTH ON DIFFERENT CARBON-SOURCES

The optimal structure of the tricarboxylic acid cycle multienzyme syst em (optimal quantitative ratio of the enzymes) for different carbon so urces is determined from experimental data on the monomer composition of E. coli biomass and computation of the steady-state distribution of metabolic fluxes for growth of the culture on acetate, glycolate, gly cerate, glutamate, glucose, gluconate, and pyruvate. Possible mechanis ms for the regulation of the levels of the enzymes in a multienzyme sy stem (the mechanisms for structure regulation) are discussed.