It was recently discovered that an E.coli strain living in the gut of the worm C

Question

It was recently discovered that an E.coli strain living in the gut of the worm C. elegans alters its fat composition. When the diet of the worm is deficient in the amino acid methionine the worm become fatter, due to signals the bacterial sends to the mitochondria of the worm causing them to fragment. Nature Cell Biology 19.550-557(2017) This is the amino acid methionine and the some of the isotopes of S Explain how you could use one of the isotopes of sulfur to track how long it takes for food to pass through the C. elegans, and how the E.coli are utilizing the methionine.

Explanation / Answer

       Sulfur is an alternative element present in proteins which is essential for microbial growth. This is supplemented as sulfate in the bacterial growth media and is present in the amino acids methionine and cysteine. When the sulfur group in the methionine is replaced by the heavy isotopes 32S, it is possible to track them in-vitro. The radiolabeled sulfur containing methionine will enter the protein biosynthetic pathway once inside the cells and is incorporated into every new protein (since it is the start codon). This ensures the incorporation of new proteins. The availability of the isotope in the cells (measuring the half-life) would help us identify the time taken for the food takes to pass through C. elegans.

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