Modeling and Robustness Analysis of Biochemical Networks of Glycerol Metabolism by Klebsiella Pneumoniae

Glycerol bioconversion to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) by Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) can be characterized by an intricate network of interactions among biochemical fluxes, metabolic compounds, key enzymes and genetic regulatory. To date, there still exist some uncertain factors in this complex network because of the limitation in biotechniques, especially inmeasuring techniques for intracellular substances. In this paper, among these uncertain factors, we aim to infer the transport mechanisms of glycerol and 1,3-PD across the cell membrane, which have received intensive interest in recent years. On the basis of different inferences of the transport mechanisms, we reconstruct various metabolic networks correspondingly and subsequently develop their dynamical systems (S-systems). To determine the most reasonable metabolic network from all possible ones, we establish a quantitative definition of biological robustness and undertake parameter identification and robustness analysis for each system. Numerical results show that it is most possible that both glycerol and 1,3-PD pass the cell membrane by active transport and passive diffusion.