Figure 4.

Formulation of the stoichiometric metabolic network (SMN) of a single species (or microbial guild) using genomic information. DNA encodes information to synthesize specific proteins with enzymatic activities (A and B); proteins catalyze specific reactions where metabolites are used as substrates (x, a, y) to be transformed into products (z, b, c); subsequent reactions form metabolic pathways, which constitute cell metabolism; each reaction is represented as a stoichiometric equation (A and B); the equations are then compiled in an extensive list of reactions involved in the modeled pathways.