About METNET
The METNET project is a BBSRC/ANR SysBio Initiative Grant held between the University of York and INSA, Lyon. The project aims to build and analyse a comprehensive in silico metabolic model of the Pea Aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum, and in so doing, to gain a better understanding of the metabolic interaction with its endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola sp. APS.Detailed annotations of the Pea Aphid metabolic reactions are currently being added to the METNET Wiki page.
Detailed project summary
From a metabolic perspective, an animal comprises a set of metabolic compartments (including organs) connected by the inter-compartment transfer of metabolites. We seek to construct and analyse multi-compartment models of metabolism, by transforming a single global metabolic network into a set of compartment networks of overlapping composition using flux balance analysis. In parallel, we will develop and apply two computational approaches for network analysis: an exploration of metabolic network motifs, and elementary modes to characterize and compare networks. Large inter-compartment metabolic differences facilitating model development will be achieved in our system comprising two distinct genomes within a single animal: the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum and its symbiotic bacteria Buchnera housed in a special organ, the bacteriome. The first model comprises two compartments, describing how the insect and bacterial networks mediate the transformation of precisely known diet components to yield biomass production (and waste); and subsequent models are of increasing complexity, involving the subdivision of the insect network into overlapping, but distinct, networks of the contributing compartments/organs. Model construction will be informed by empirical data collected on the aphid transcriptome, Buchnera proteome and embryo nutrient budgets within this project, and the model outputs will be validated against whole-insect metabolic and nutritional datasets obtained previously from the investigators' labs. Algorithms and models developed in this project will be maintained in a central Repository linked to pre-existing databases, suitable for data-sharing within the project and dissemination to the wider community. The outputs will include metabolic network data for a range of insects with well-developed genomic resources.
