COMPARATIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE FERMENTATION PATHWAY OF SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE USING BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMS-THEORY AND METABOLIC CONTROLANALYSIS - MODEL DEFINITION AND NOMENCLATURE

Mathematical tools that involve the determination of systemic response s to small changes in metabolites or enzymes have demonstrated their u tility for analyzing metabolic pathways. The different methodologies b ased on these ideas allow for modeling and analyzing biochemical pathw ays focusing on the coordinate behavior of the whole system. However, one must become familiar with the difference in nomenclature and metho dology to relate the models and results obtained by applying these tec hniques and to appreciate their potential for answering fundamental qu estions about biochemical systems. In the following three papers we sh ow how this can be facilitated by comparing the nomenclature, methodol ogy, and results of the two leading techniques in this area, metabolic control analysis and biochemical systems theory, using a model of the fermentation pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a reference syste m. In the present paper we review the nomenclature, technical concepts , and related experimental measurements while creating a practical dic tionary for the reference system that makes the relatedness of the two approaches more apparent. In the second paper, subtitled Steady-State Analysis, we show that both approaches give the same picture for many systemic responses of the reference system. In the third paper of thi s series, subtitled Model Validation and Dynamic Behavior, we show tha t the quality of the model can be assessed by studying the sensitivity to changes in the system parameters. We hope to illustrate the useful ness of these tools in providing an interpretation of the experimental measurements in a specific metabolic pathway.