ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some working hypotheses which are often used implicitly. In principle, knowledge of the genome of an organism should lead to an understanding of its metabolism. In a metabolic network, the intermediate metabolites are links between the various reactions of the network, and their concentrations, which are unique, are determined by the structure of the network and the kinetic properties of the various reactions. In order to calculate the fluxes in a metabolic network, one used to consider the intermediate metabolite concentrations as constant, that is, their rate of consumption balances their production. The analysis of the structure of metabolic networks in terms of elementary modes is essential to understand their function, as they depict all the pathways that can be taken. An elementary flux mode is a minimal set of reactions which can operate at steady-state using irreversible reactions in the right direction.
