Metabolic pathway analysis in biotechnology

Item Type:	Book Section
Title:	Metabolic pathway analysis in biotechnology
Creators Name:	Schuster, S.
Abstract:	This chapter gives an overview of Metabolic Pathway Analysis and its historical roots. The basic concepts of the field are outlined and their relevance for biotechnology are discussed. In particular, the concept of elementary flux mode is explained and compared with that of extreme pathway. It is shown that elementary-mode analysis is a useful tool for better understanding the complex architecture of metabolism and for determining those metabolic routes on which the molar conversion field of a substrate-product pair under consideration is maximum. The presentation is illustrated by a simple example from monosaccharide metabolism and a system describing lysine production in Escherichia coli, which is kept relatively simple for didactic reasons. The latter system gives rise to 14 elementary modes, four of which produce lysine with different molar yields. Furthermore, special problems arising in the modeling of large networks are discussed. An overview of the literature on theoretical and applied problems of metabolic pathway analysis is given. An outlook on future prospects in the field concludes the chapter.
Title of Book:	Metabolic Engineering in the Post Genomic Era
ISBN:	0-9545232-2-9
Publisher:	Horizon Bioscience
Page Range:	181-208
Date:	1 January 2004

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