(191dp) Understanding Preferential Consumption of Aromatic Compounds in Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1

Rapid depletion of fossil resources and an increasing threat of anthropogenic climate change are driving a need for renewable alternatives to petrochemicals. Lignin, a common waste product from paper and farming industries, offers a rich diversity of aromatic molecules that can be converted into biorenewable alternatives to petrochemicals. Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 (referred to as ADP1) is an attractive candidate for lignin valorization due to its ability to metabolize a diverse array of lignin monomers and its natural propensity to incorporate foreign DNA into its genome. However, ADP1 exhibits strict substrate preference among these carbon sources through mechanisms that are incompletely understood. The presented work investigates possible mechanisms and motivations underlying the native carbon source preference of ADP1 primarily using metabolomics, an analytical method that enables the simultaneous profiling of concentrations of hundreds of metabolites within the cell. As the closest predictor of cellular phenotype, metabolomics is a powerful tool for understanding changes in phenotype. Combined with analytical methods for measuring metabolite uptake/secretion and protein expression, these tools provide a robust framework for elucidating the mechanisms causing substrate preference in ADP1. Once the native substrate preference of ADP1 is fully understood, this knowledge can be applied to engineer ADP1 for production of valuable products such as advanced biofuels.