Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41634835›Full record

ArticleMicrobiome2026

In silico analysis and comparison of the metabolic capabilities of different organisms by reducing metabolic complexity.

Evangelia Vayena, Meriç Ataman, Vassily Hatzimanikatis

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Microbiome, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Strain-dependent efficacy of pasteurizedFrontiers in nutrition · 2026
    Article
  3. Metabolic modeling of host-microbe interactions.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Evangelia VayenaLaboratory of Computational Systems Biotechnology, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland.
Meriç AtamanLaboratory of Computational Systems Biotechnology, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland.
Vassily HatzimanikatisLaboratory of Computational Systems Biotechnology, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland. vassily.hatzimanikatis@epfl.ch.

Funding

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung 200021_188623
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundUnderstanding how metabolic capabilities diverge across microbial species is essential for deciphering community function, ecological interactions, and the design of synthetic microbiomes. Despite shared core pathways, microbial phenotypes can differ markedly due to evolutionary adaptations and metabolic specialization. Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) provide a systems-level framework to explore these differences; however, their complexity hinders direct comparison.

resultsWe introduce NIS (Neidhardt-Ingraham-Schaechter), a computational workflow that integrates the redGEM, lumpGEM, and redGEMX algorithms to systematically reduce genome-scale models into biologically interpretable modules. This approach enables direct, quantitative comparison of fueling pathways, biomass biosynthetic routes, and environmental exchange processes while retaining essential metabolic information. We first demonstrate the utility of NIS by analyzing Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which revealed both conserved and divergent strategies in central metabolism, biosynthetic cost, and substrate utilization. We then applied NIS to the core honeybee gut microbiome, uncovering distinct metabolic traits, functional redundancy, and complementarity that help explain auxotrophy, cross-feeding interactions, and microbial coexistence.

conclusionsNIS provides an automated, scalable, and reproducible framework for dissecting microbial metabolic networks beyond gene content or taxonomy. By linking metabolism to ecological function, NIS offers new opportunities to interpret microbial community dynamics and to support the rational design of microbiomes in health, agriculture, and environmental applications. Video Abstract.

Indexed as

Computational BiologyEscherichia coliMetabolic Networks and PathwaysMicrobiotaSaccharomyces cerevisiaeAlgorithmsAnimalsComputer SimulationComparative functional analysisMetabolic network reductionMicrobiome modeling

Identifiers

PMID41634835
PMCPMC12964762

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.