Global Gene Expression Profiling of E. coli and Its Mutant Unable to Produce Acetate

DNA microarray has been used extensively to analyze gene expression profiles of microorganisms. Transcriptome profiling can provide important information about cell physiology and has the potential to identify connections between regulatory or metabolic pathways that were not previously known [5]. Physiological meanings of acetate synthetic pathway in E. coli have been studied for many years. It has been reported that the accumulation of acetate in the culture media decreases cell growth rate and production of recombinant protein [3]. Also, it has been suggested that acetyl phosphate plays a role as global regulator affects some regulators and the target genes [4, 1]. In this study, we manufactured DNA microarray containing 2,850 genes including all functionally known and putative ones [6]. Changes in transcriptome level between wild type E. coli and its mutant unable to produce acetate, were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to examine their physiological and metabolic meanings.