Research Article
Conservation of Edge Essentiality Profiles in Metabolic Networks Across Species
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-642-02469-6_63, author={Tomasz Arodź}, title={Conservation of Edge Essentiality Profiles in Metabolic Networks Across Species}, proceedings={Complex Sciences. First International Conference, Complex 2009, Shanghai, China, February 23-25, 2009, Revised Papers, Part 2}, proceedings_a={COMPLEX PART 2}, year={2012}, month={5}, keywords={Complex networks metabolic networks edge essentiality clustering of organisms}, doi={10.1007/978-3-642-02469-6_63} }- Tomasz Arodź
Year: 2012
Conservation of Edge Essentiality Profiles in Metabolic Networks Across Species
COMPLEX PART 2
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-02469-6_63
Abstract
Reactions involved in cellular metabolism form a complex network susceptible to targeted attacks. Recent experiments show that several descriptors of edge essentiality correlate well with lethality of silencing corresponding genes in a model organism, opening path to identifying targets for antimicrobial drugs that would disrupt network functioning in bacteria. However, correlation of high essentiality with experiment is necessary but not sufficient for a descriptor to be useful. Also, the essentialities of corresponding edges have to differ markedly between pathogens and hosts, to yield minimal effect on the latter. Here, we analyse similarity of profiles of several edge essentiality measures across multiple species. We show that local measures, based on degrees of a substrate and a product linked by the edge, or on the alternative paths connecting the two, are evolutionarily conserved within bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes, but also differ between these groups, leading to isolated clusters of species. Furthermore, comparison with a global topological measure, the relative decrease in network efficiency upon edge removal, shows that metabolic networks are more conserved locally than globally.