Reconstruction of Genetic Regulatory Network Knowledge Base from Metabolic Pathways Data

Abstract

Genetic regulatory network of an organism is a network of interactions among genes so as to model the genetic regulatory mechanism within the organism. It is a network consisting of many components interacting with complex collective behaviors. The reconstruction of such network, therefore, requires extensive amount of knowledge. One source of knowledge for the network is that of metabolic pathways, which identifies gene interactions through the enzymes involved in reactions within the pathway. The acquired knowledge of the genes and enzymes participating in metabolic pathways is managed in a knowledge base for genetic regulatory network. The system also maintains knowledge on transcription factors regulating transcription of genes. Using the knowledge base, the genetic regulatory network of an organism could be reconstructed. It works by identifying which enzymes involve in a particular pathway and associating each enzyme with the gene producing it. Recursively, transcription factors regulating the expression of the associated gene are searched. The overall picture describes the network of interaction among genes in the organism.