Biological Systems as a Network

Faculty

Research Summary

1. Analysis of Metabolic Networks

Enzymes transform the molecular structure of metabolites to constitute the metabolic network. We analyze the network at the atomic scale. Comprehensive analysis of small molecules inside cells is called metabolomics, the third omics approach following genomics and proteomics. We develop foundational software platforms to support metabolomics such as databases and spectral matching algorithms.

2. Web Portal of Phytochemicals

Plants provide various compounds that enrich our daily life. Such metabolites are called phytochemicals and include flavonoids, vitamins, phytosterols and polysaccharides. We accumulate phytochemical information and create a wiki-style repository to feedback useful knowledge to the public. The system is more like a portal or cyber-infrastructure rather than a database. We also plan to use this resource to analyze biosynthetic pathways in plants.

Trace or nitrogen atom in a pathway

Plant species （□）and their flavonoids （○）in Lamiaceae (mint family)

Selected Publications

PubMed

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