Research article
Modular co-evolution of metabolic networks
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* Corresponding authors: Zhi-Wei Cao zwcao@scbit.org - Yi-Xue Li yxli@sibs.ac.cn
1 School of Life Sciences & Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
2 Shanghai Center for Bioinformation and Technology, Shanghai 200235, China
3 Bioinformatics Center, Key Lab of Systems Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
4 Department of Mathematics, Logistical Engineering University, Chongqing 400016, China
BMC Bioinformatics 2007, 8:311 doi:10.1186/1471-2105-8-311
Published: 27 August 2007Abstract
Background
The architecture of biological networks has been reported to exhibit high level of modularity, and to some extent, topological modules of networks overlap with known functional modules. However, how the modular topology of the molecular network affects the evolution of its member proteins remains unclear.
Results
In this work, the functional and evolutionary modularity of Homo sapiens (H. sapiens) metabolic network were investigated from a topological point of view. Network decomposition shows that the metabolic network is organized in a highly modular core-periphery way, in which the core modules are tightly linked together and perform basic metabolism functions, whereas the periphery modules only interact with few modules and accomplish relatively independent and specialized functions. Moreover, over half of the modules exhibit co-evolutionary feature and belong to specific evolutionary ages. Peripheral modules tend to evolve more cohesively and faster than core modules do.
Conclusion
The correlation between functional, evolutionary and topological modularity suggests that the evolutionary history and functional requirements of metabolic systems have been imprinted in the architecture of metabolic networks. Such systems level analysis could demonstrate how the evolution of genes may be placed in a genome-scale network context, giving a novel perspective on molecular evolution.