Citation
The large-scale organization of metabolic networks
TL;DR
E. coli metabolic network is scale-free with γ ≈ 2.2
Demonstrated that E. coli and other metabolic networks exhibit scale-free topology with power-law degree distributions (γ ≈ 2.2). This revealed that biological networks share organizational principles with technological networks like the Internet, suggesting universal mechanisms of network evolution through preferential attachment.
Key Findings from Jeong et al. (2000)
- E. coli metabolic network is scale-free with γ ≈ 2.2
- Few hub metabolites (ATP, NADH) participate in 50-100+ reactions
- Most metabolites participate in only 1-3 reactions
- Scale-free topology enables robustness to random enzyme failures