On the closure of graphs under substitution

In this paper we investigate the closure ~-* under substitution-composition of a family of graphs ~,, defined by a set Lr of forbidden configurations. We first prove that ~-* can be defined by a set L~* of forbidden subgraphs. Next, using a counterexample we show that ~* is not necessarily a finite set, even when .~ is finite. We then give a sufficient condition for ~* to be finite and a simple algorithm for enumerating all the graphs of ~.* As application, we obtain new classes of perfect graphs.