Evolutionary constraints permeate large metabolic networks

Thermodynamic Constraints for Metabolic Networks

Genotype networks shed light on evolutionary constraints.

An evolutionary constraint is a bias or limitation in phenotypic variation that a biological system produces. One can distinguish physicochemical, selective, genetic and developmental causes of such constraints. Here, I discuss these causes in three classes of system that bring forth many phenotypic traits and evolutionary innovations: regulatory circuits, macromolecules and metabolic networks....

Evolutionary attributes of simulated prebiotic metabolic networks

A metabolism-first scenario for the origin of life entails that as early as replicating entities have emerged prebiotically, they must have constituted relatively complex molecular networks, arising via spontaneous accretion of assemblies of simpler organic molecules. While it is widely accepted that selfcatalysis is a prerequisite for life, considerably less attention has been devoted to netwo...

Evolutionary Modelling and Analysis of Metabolic Networks

The small world inside large metabolic networks.

The metabolic network of the catabolic, energy and biosynthetic metabolism of Escherichia coli is a paradigmatic case for the large genetic and metabolic networks that functional genomics efforts are beginning to elucidate. To analyse the structure of previously unknown networks involving hundreds or thousands of components by simple visual inspection is impossible, and quantitative approaches ...