Keynote Presentation: Genome-Scale Models Can Compute Proteome Allocation

After the first genome sequences appeared in the mid 1990s, genome-scale models of metabolism were formulated.  By 2003 it was clear that these models would produce useful results and a vision was laid out to expand them in scope to include all cellular functions.  By 2008 the entire protein synthesis machinery had been reconstructed and by 2012 integrated models of metabolism and protein synthesis had appeared.  These models could compute the composition and cellular location of 80% of the proteome by mass.   The remaining 20% of the proteome is being detailed and this largely consists of stress related responses. These models are now giving us comprehensive understanding of how proteomes are synthesized and optimally deployed. A deep understanding of ‘proteometrics’ is now being developed that will allow us to comprehensively understand the function and evolution of microbial organisms.