Exogenous fatty acids inhibit fatty acid synthesis by competing with endogenously generated substrates for phospholipid synthesis in Escherichia coli

Exogenous fatty acids are directly incorporated into bacterial membranes, heavily influencing cell envelope properties, antibiotic susceptibility, and bacterial ecology. Here, we quantify fatty acid biosynthesis metabolites and enzymes of the fatty acid synthesis pathway to determine how exogenous fatty acids inhibit fatty acid synthesis in Escherichia coli. We find that acyl-CoA synthesized from exogenous fatty acids rapidly increases concentrations of long-chain acyl-acyl carrier protein (acyl-ACP), which inhibits fatty acid synthesis initiation. Accumulation of long-chain acyl-ACP is caused by competition with acyl-CoA for phospholipid synthesis enzymes. Furthermore, we find that transcriptional regulation rebalances saturated and unsaturated acyl-ACP while maintaining overall expression levels of fatty acid synthesis enzymes. Rapid feedback inhibition of fatty acid synthesis by exogenous fatty acids thus allows E. coli to benefit from exogenous fatty acids while maintaining fatty acid synthesis capacity. We hypothesize that this indirect feedback mechanism is ubiquitous across bacterial species.