Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Mutation Selection On The Metabolic Pathway And The Effects On Protein Co-Evolution And The Rate Limiting Steps On The Tree Of Life, Katherine S. Porter

Mathematics Summer Fellows

Metabolic pathways are made of a series of reactions by enzymes at different speeds. These pathways include the rate limiting step, which is the slowest step that determines the rate of the overall reaction. To date, one study has examined the pathway of glycolysis and found no evidence of evolutionary stability of its rate limiting step. In addition, phylogenetic evidence has shown evolution in the pathway over time including gene duplication and positive selection within the pathway. This evidence suggests that there is coevolutionary selection on glycolysis. The evidence from this previous study is simulation-based. The Michaelis-Menten kinetics that describe …