The Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences

2027 Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences

January 12-15, 2027

A Reinforcement Learning approach to genome-scale metabolic modeling
ID:912 Invited Oral Presentation

2027-01-12 13:30 (China Standard Time)

Session:Session 16 - Quantifying marine microbial processes in a changing ocean – synthesizing experiments/fieldwork and models/theories

Abstract

Through their exposure to predictable environments, microbes have evolved specialized regulatory networks to anticipate change. For example, the marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus orchestrates the up- and down-regulation of most of its proteome over the daily light cycle - repairing damage from the day prior, redirecting metabolic fluxes and preparing for the next day. Currently, optimization approaches to modeling microbial metabolic dynamics are predominantly reflexive - they see only the current state of the environment - and are unable to reproduce sub-optimal behaviors that create fitness advantages over time. We developed a Reinforcement Learning framework for Flux Balance Analysis (RL-FBA), whereby an agent learns an optimal regulatory policy on metabolic fluxes through enzyme allocation, improving fitness outcomes through repeated training. The framework is also able to reproduce known regulatory dynamics through Imitation Learning, using quantitative proteomics and transcriptomics time-series data, and providing a benchmark for trained policy comparisons. I will present the current state of development of RL-FBA through demonstrations with a toy model as well as applications to data-driven genome-scale model simulations of the Prochlorococcus diel cycle. I will also discuss generalizations of Reinforcement Learning policies to inform proteome allocation models, which are today being implemented in ocean biogeochemical models.

Speaker
John Casey Tohoku University

Author
John Casey Tohoku University

    Important Dates

    • Jan 30

      2026

      Session / Event proposals open

    • Mar 31

      2026

      Session / Event proposals close
      (Extended to April 7)

    • Apr 30

      2026

      Session acceptance notifications

    • Apr 30

      2026

      Abstract submissions & registration open

    • Jun 30

      2026

      Abstract submissions close
      (Extended to July 21)

    • Aug 31

      2026

      Abstract acceptance notifications

    • Sep 15

      2026

      Scientific program released

    • Oct 15

      2026

      Early bird registration closes

    • Jan 12–15

      2027

      XMAS 2027