AUTHOR=Sweetlove Lee J., Ratcliffe R. George 

TITLE=Flux-Balance Modeling of Plant Metabolism

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2011

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2011.00038

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2011.00038

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Flux-balance modeling of plant metabolic networks provides an important complement to <sup>13</sup>C-based metabolic flux analysis. Flux-balance modeling is a constraints-based approach in which steady-state fluxes in a metabolic network are predicted by using optimization algorithms within an experimentally bounded solution space. In the last 2 years several flux-balance models of plant metabolism have been published including genome-scale models of <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> metabolism. In this review we consider what has been learnt from these models. In addition, we consider the limitations of flux-balance modeling and identify the main challenges to generating improved and more detailed models of plant metabolism at tissue- and cell-specific scales. Finally we discuss the types of question that flux-balance modeling is well suited to address and its potential role in metabolic engineering and crop improvement.</p>