Isotopomer distributions in amino acids from a highly expressed protein as a proxy for those from total protein.

13C-Based metabolic flux analysis provides valuable information about bacterial physiology. Though many biological processes rely on the synergistic functions of microbial communities, study of individual organisms in a mixed culture using existing flux analysis methods is difficult. Isotopomer-based flux analysis typically relies on hydrolyzed amino acids from a homogeneous biomass. Thus, metabolic flux analysis of a given organism in a mixed culture requires its separation from the mixed culture. Swift and efficient cell separation is difficult and a major hurdle for isotopomer-based flux analysis of mixed cultures. Here we demonstrate the use of a single highly expressed protein to analyze the isotopomer distribution of amino acids from one organism. Using the model organism Escherichia coli expressing a plasmid-borne, His-tagged green fluorescent protein (GFP), we show that induction of GFP does not affect E. coli growth kinetics or the isotopomer distribution in nine key metabolites. Further, the isotopomer labeling patterns of amino acids derived from purified GFP and total cell protein are indistinguishable, indicating that amino acids from a purified protein can be used to infer metabolic fluxes of targeted organisms in a mixed culture. This study provides the foundation to extend isotopomer-based flux analysis to study metabolism of individual strains in microbial communities.