Review

Metabolic networks of microbial systems

Sumana Bhattacharya¹ , Subhra Chakrabarti¹ , Amiya Nayak¹ and Sanjoy K Bhattacharya²

¹  Environmental Biotechnology Division, ABRD Company LLC, 1555 Wood Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44121, USA

²  Dept. of Ophthalmic Research, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Area I 31, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA

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Microbial Cell Factories 2003, 2:3doi:10.1186/1475-2859-2-3

Published:	11 April 2003

Abstract

In contrast to bioreactors the metabolites within the microbial cells are converted in an impure atmosphere, yet the productivity seems to be well regulated and not affected by changes in operation variables. These features are attributed to integral metabolic network within the microorganism. With the advent of neo-integrative proteomic approaches the understanding of integration of metabolic and protein-protein interaction networks have began. In this article we review the methods employed to determine the protein-protein interaction and their integration to define metabolite networks. We further present a review of current understanding of network properties, and benefit of studying the networks. The predictions using network structure, for example, in silico experiments help illustrate the importance of studying the network properties. The cells are regarded as complex system but their elements unlike complex systems interact selectively and nonlinearly to produce coherent rather than complex behaviors.