GNPS - A metabolism-wide CRISPRi library expands the measurable E. coli metabolome - FI-MS dataset

In this study, we developed a workflow to systematically and selectively induce increases in metabolites by knocking down enzymes with CRISPR interference (CRISPRi). Therefore, we created a sorted CRISPRi library targeting all 1,515 metabolic genes in the most recent genome-scale metabolic model of E. coli (iML151515). In a first step, we screened the metabolome of the CRISPRi library with a fast flow-injection mass spectrometry, which revealed strong and specific accumulation of 36% of the predicted metabolites in the iML1515 model. The accumulating metabolites were unique to certain knockdowns, especially those metabolites associated with the CRISPRi targeted-pathway.