Metabolic network

A metabolic network is the complete set of metabolic and physical processes that determine the physiological and biochemical properties of a cell. As such, these networks comprise the chemical reactions of metabolism, the metabolic pathways, as well as the regulatory interactions that guide these reactions.

With the sequencing of complete genomes, it is now possible to reconstruct the network of biochemical reactions in many organisms, from bacteria to human. Several of these networks are available online: Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG),[1] EcoCyc,[2] BioCyc[3] and metaTIGER.[4] Metabolic networks are powerful tools for studying and modelling metabolism.


Metro-style map of major metabolic pathways



MEP
MVA
The image above contains clickable links
Major metabolic pathways in metro-style map. Click any text (name of pathway or metabolites) to link to the corresponding article.
Single lines: pathways common to most lifeforms. Double lines: pathways not in humans (occurs in e.g. plants, fungi, prokaryotes). Orange nodes: carbohydrate metabolism. Violet nodes: photosynthesis. Red nodes: cellular respiration. Pink nodes: cell signaling. Blue nodes: amino acid metabolism. Grey nodes: vitamin and cofactor metabolism. Brown nodes: nucleotide and protein metabolism. Green nodes: lipid metabolism.
  1. ^ "GenomeNet". www.genome.ad.jp. Archived from the original on 2009-02-24. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  2. ^ "EcoCyc: Encyclopedia of E. coli Genes and Metabolic Pathways". www.ecocyc.org.
  3. ^ "BioCyc Pathway/Genome Database Collection". biocyc.org.
  4. ^ "metaTIGER - Home". www.bioinformatics.leeds.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2010-06-09.