A topological characterization of medium-dependent essential metabolic reactions.

ABSTRACT: Metabolism has frequently been analyzed from a network perspective. A major question is how network properties correlate with biological features like growth rates, flux patterns and enzyme essentiality. Using methods from graph theory as well as established topological categories of metabolic systems, we analyze the essentiality of metabolic reactions depending on the growth medium and identify the topological footprint of these reactions. We find that the typical topological context of a medium-dependent essential reaction is systematically different from that of a globally essential reaction. In particular, we observe systematic differences in the distribution of medium-dependent essential reactions across three-node subgraphs (the network motif signature of medium-dependent essential r

SUBMITTER: Sonnenschein N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3901215 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature