Computational identification of obligatorily autocatalytic replicators embedded in metabolic networks

@article{citeulike:2501554, abstract = {BACKGROUND:If chemical A is necessary for the synthesis of more chemical A then A has the power of replication (such systems are known as autocatalytic systems). We provide the first systems-level analysis to search for small-molecular autocatalytic components in metabolisms of diverse organisms, including an inferred minimal metabolism.RESULTS:We find that intermediary metabolism is invariably autocatalytic for ATP. Furthermore, we provide evidence for the existence of additional, organism-specific autocatalytic seeds in the forms of coenzymes (NAD, CoA, tetrahydrofolate, quinones) and sugars. Although the enzymatic reactions of a number of autocatalytic cycles are present in most of the studied organisms, they display obligatorily autocatalytic behaviour in a few networks only, hence demonstrating the need for a systems-level approach to identify metabolic replicators embedded in large networks.CONCLUSIONS:Metabolic replicators are hence apparently common and potentially both universal and ancestral: without their presence, kick-start of metabolic networks is impossible, even if all enzymes and genes are present in the same cell. Identification of metabolic replicators is also important for attempts to create synthetic cells, as some of these autocatalytic molecules will presumably be needed to be added to the system as by definition the system cannot synthesize them without their initial presence.}, author = {Kun, Adam and Papp, Balazs and Szathmary, Eors }, citeulike-article-id = {2501554}, doi = {10.1186/gb-2008-9-3-r51}, journal = {Genome Biology}, keywords = {bioinformatics, catalysis, metabolomics, network}, number = {3}, posted-at = {2008-03-10 22:26:04}, priority = {2}, title = {Computational identification of obligatorily autocatalytic replicators embedded in metabolic networks}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/gb-2008-9-3-r51}, volume = {9}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2501554 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2501554 TI - Computational identification of obligatorily autocatalytic replicators embedded in metabolic networks JF - Genome Biology VL - 9 IS - 3 N2 - BACKGROUND:If chemical A is necessary for the synthesis of more chemical A then A has the power of replication (such systems are known as autocatalytic systems). We provide the first systems-level analysis to search for small-molecular autocatalytic components in metabolisms of diverse organisms, including an inferred minimal metabolism.RESULTS:We find that intermediary metabolism is invariably autocatalytic for ATP. Furthermore, we provide evidence for the existence of additional, organism-specific autocatalytic seeds in the forms of coenzymes (NAD, CoA, tetrahydrofolate, quinones) and sugars. Although the enzymatic reactions of a number of autocatalytic cycles are present in most of the studied organisms, they display obligatorily autocatalytic behaviour in a few networks only, hence demonstrating the need for a systems-level approach to identify metabolic replicators embedded in large networks.CONCLUSIONS:Metabolic replicators are hence apparently common and potentially both universal and ancestral: without their presence, kick-start of metabolic networks is impossible, even if all enzymes and genes are present in the same cell. Identification of metabolic replicators is also important for attempts to create synthetic cells, as some of these autocatalytic molecules will presumably be needed to be added to the system as by definition the system cannot synthesize them without their initial presence. KW - bioinformatics KW - catalysis KW - metabolomics KW - network AU - Kun, Adam AU - Papp, Balazs AU - Szathmary, Eors PY - 2008/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/gb-2008-9-3-r51 ER -