Post-translational modifications (PTMs) change how proteins interact with one another in varying cellular content. They play a central role in regulating protein activity, interaction networks, and cellular processes in multiple pathways. Such variability challenges the traditional sequence-structure-function paradigm of limited genome space. I will present a paradigm shift in analyzing the regulatory network of cellular processes leading to multiple phenotypes such as the central carbon metabolism in the model cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus. Tracking dynamic redox reactions in response to light disturbance effectively integrates transcriptome and proteome datasets in cyanobacteria and leads to discovery of an assemblage of protein regulators. This study reveals the complexity of regulations across different time scales, highlighting a multilayered regulatory network of metabolic pathways built on chemical and molecular interactions coupled to circadian rhythmicity in cyanobacteria.
*This work is also partially supported by the NW-BRaVE for Biopreparedness project funded by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, under FWP 81832. A portion of this research was performed on a project award from the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE Office of Science User Facility sponsored by the Biological and Environmental Research program under Contract No. DE-AC05-76RL01830. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a multi-program national laboratory operated by Battelle for the DOE under Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830.
