Scale-free networks in biology: new insights into the fundamentals of evolution?
Scale-free network models describe many natural and social phenomena. In particular, networks of interacting components of a living cell were shown to possess scale-free properties. A recent study((1)) compares the system-level properties of metabolic and information networks in 43 archaeal, bacterial and eukaryal species and claims that the scale-free organization of these networks is more conserved during evolution than their content.
Wolf
Yuri I
YI
National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA.
Karev
Georgy
G
Koonin
Eugene V
EV
D001105:Archaea / Q000502:physiology*; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological