dc.contributor.author | Pfeiffer, Thomas | en_GB |
dc.contributor.author | Soyer, Orkun S. | en_GB |
dc.contributor.author | Bonhoeffer, Sebastian | en_GB |
dc.date.accessioned | 2012-05-25T14:40:40Z | en_GB |
dc.date.accessioned | 2012-09-28T18:13:20Z | en_GB |
dc.date.accessioned | 2013-03-20T12:30:14Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2005-06-28 | en_GB |
dc.description.abstract | Processes in living cells are the result of interactions between biochemical compounds in highly complex biochemical networks. It is a major challenge in biology to understand causes and consequences of the specific design of these networks. A characteristic design feature of metabolic networks is the presence of hub metabolites such as ATP or NADH that are involved in a high number of reactions. To study the emergence of hub metabolites, we implemented computer simulations of a widely accepted scenario for the evolution of metabolic networks. Our simulations indicate that metabolic networks with a large number of highly specialized enzymes may evolve from a few multifunctional enzymes. During this process, enzymes duplicate and specialize, leading to a loss of biochemical reactions and intermediary metabolites. Complex features of metabolic networks such as the presence of hubs may result from selection of growth rate if essential biochemical mechanisms are considered. Specifically, our simulations indicate that group transfer reactions are essential for the emergence of hubs. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Vol. 3 (7), pp. 1269 - 1275 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030228 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10036/3794 | en_GB |
dc.language.iso | eng | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Public Library of Science | en_GB |
dc.title | The evolution of connectivity in metabolic networks | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2012-05-25T14:40:40Z | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2012-09-28T18:13:20Z | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2013-03-20T12:30:14Z | |
dc.description | Copyright: © 2005 Pfeiffer et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | PLoS Biology | en_GB |