The polyextremotolerant black yeast Exophiala dermatitidis is a tractable model system for investigation of adaptations that support growth under extreme conditions. Foremost among these adaptations are melanogenesis and carotenogenesis. A particularly important question is their metabolic production cost. However, investigation of this issue has been hindered by a relatively poor systems-level understanding of E. dermatitidis metabolism. To address this challenge, a genome-scale model (iEde2091) was developed. Using iEde2091, carotenoids were found to be more expensive to produce than melanins. Given their overlapping protective functions, this suggests that carotenoids have an underexplored yet important role in photo-protection. Furthermore, multiple defensive pigments with overlapping functions might allow E. dermatitidis to minimize cost. Because iEde2091 revealed that E. dermatitidis synthesizes the same melanins as humans and the active sites of the key tyrosinase enzyme are highly conserved this model may enable a broader understanding of melanin production across kingdoms.

多极耐性黑酵母Exophiala dermatitidis是一种易于处理的模型系统，用于研究在极端条件下支持生长的适应性。这些适应中最重要的是黑素生成和胡萝卜素生成。一个特别重要的问题是它们的代谢生产成本。然而，对E的系统级理解相对较差，阻碍了对该问题的调查。皮炎代谢。为了应对这一挑战，开发了基因组规模模型（ i Ede2091）。使用i Ede2091，发现类胡萝卜素的生产成本比黑色素更昂贵。鉴于它们重叠的保护功能，这表明类胡萝卜素在光保护中具有尚未充分探索但重要的作用。此外，具有重叠功能的多种防御色素可能允许大肠杆菌。皮炎，以尽量减少成本。因为i Ede2091 揭示了E 。皮炎线虫合成与人类相同的黑色素，并且关键酪氨酸酶的活性位点高度保守，该模型可以使人们更广泛地了解跨界黑色素的产生。