title: Properties of metabolic networks: structure versus function.
abstract: Biological data from high-throughput technologies describing the network components (genes, proteins, metabolites) and their associated interactions have driven the reconstruction and study of structural (topological) properties of large-scale biological networks. In this article, we address the relation of the functional and structural properties by using extensively experimentally validated genome-scale metabolic network models to compute observable functional states of a microorganism and compare the "structure versus function" attributes of metabolic networks. It is observed that, functionally speaking, the essentiality of reactions in a node is not correlated with node connectivity as structural analyses of other biological networks have suggested. These findings are illustrated with the analysis of the genome-scale biochemical networks of three species with distinct modes of metabolism. These results also suggest fundamental differences among different biological networks arising out of their representation and functional constraints.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahadevan
authors.forename: B O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Palsson
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001695:Biology / Q000379:methods*; D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D019295:Computational Biology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology; D016678:Genome; D045302:Geobacter / Q000378:metabolism; D007700:Kinetics; D008660:Metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D010641:Phenotype; D040901:Proteomics; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors