Comparative genome-scale metabolic modeling of actinomycetes: The topology of essential core metabolism

► We generated genome-scale metabolic models of 37 actinomycete species for comparative analysis. ► Using single-gene in silico knockouts we inferred genomic maps of essential enzymes in each species. ► Combining all models, we were able to construct a global enzyme association network. ► We identified the conserved “core network” and the “essential core network” of the entire group. ► Low-degree enzymes (in linear pathways) are generally more essential than high-degree enzymes.