Multi-omics data-driven systems biology of E. coli

The omics, which means comprehensive analysis of a specific layer in a cellular system, are emerging as essential methodological approaches for molecular biology and systems biology. However, single omics analysis does not always provide enough information to understand the behaviors of a cellular system. Therefore, a combination of multiple omics analyses, the multi-omics approach, is required to acquire a precise picture of living organisms. In this chapter, basic concepts of omics studies, and recent technologies in the omics of metabolism and published multi-omics analyses of Escherichia coli, are reviewed. Subsequently, a large-scale multi-omics analysis of E. coli K-12, including transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and fluxomics, is presented. This study uncovered the complementary strategies of E. coli that result in a metabolic network robust against various types of perturbations, therefore demonstrating the power of a multi-omics, data-driven approach for understanding the functional principles of total cellular systems.