In Silico Metabolic Pathway Modeling and Analysis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae

Completion of genome projects gives us a lot of information to deal with and analyze. From the genomic sequence data, cellular information can be obtained. The complexity of cellular processes can be analyzed not only by the individual components but also by the systematic approaches. However in general, these approaches are limited by the lack of kinetic information on the metabolism. The ultimate goals of the systematic approaches are the establishment of dynamic model that behaves similar to the cell or microorganism. This method can be accomplished by step-by-step approach to resolve and verify the uncertainties of the metabolic model [2, 5]. Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a pathogen causing atypical pneumonia in human beings, and pathogenicity related studies have been extensively carried out [3]. Basic studies of M. pneumoniaewere hampered by the difficulties in cell culture and genetic manipulation. Therefore, in silico metabolic modeling can give clues to the metabolism and physiology of this strain. In this study, we analyzed the genome sequence of M. pneumoniae and developed a static metabolic model. The concept of edges, vertexes and connectors was applied to the construction as a graph.