Constraint-based modelling of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii photoautotrophic metabolism

A constraint-based modelling approach was developed to investigate the metabolic response of the eukaryotic microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii under photoautotrophic conditions. The model explicitly includes thermodynamic and energetic constraints on the functioning metabolism. A mixed integer linear programming method was used to determine the optimal flux distributions with regard to this set of constraints. It enabled us in particular to highlight the existence of a light-driven respiration depending on the incident photon flux density in photobioreactors.