Dynamic metabolic modeling of heterotrophic and mixotrophic microalgal growth on fermentative wastes
Fig 1
Central carbon metabolic network of a unicellular heterotrophic microalga decomposed into three sub-networks.
Central carbon metabolic network is composed of photosynthesis, the glyoxysome, citric acid cycle, glycolysis, carbohydrate synthesis, pentose phosphate pathway, lipid synthesis, oxidative phosphorylation, protein, DNA, RNA, chlorophyll and biomass synthesis. During photosynthesis, inorganic carbon (CO2) is assimilated using light energy to produce a 3-carbon sugar glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GAP). In the glyoxysome, fatty acids (including acetate and butyrate) are degraded to Acetyl-CoA, which is then transformed to succinate (SUC) thanks to the glyoxylate cycle. SUC and GAP are then used as primary precursors to produce precursor metabolites and energy via the Tricarboxylic Acid (TCA) cycle for protein, DNA, RNA, carbohydrate and lipid synthesis.