Flexible database-assisted graphical representation of metabolic networks for model comparison and the display of experimental data

Abstract

Intracellular processes in living organisms are described by metabolic models. A visualization of metabolic models assists interpretation of data or analyzing results. We introduce the visualization tool DaViMM creating personalized graphical representations of metabolic networks for model comparison or the display of measurements or analyzing results. The tool is coupled to a relational database containing graphical network properties like coordinates, which ensure an intuitive network layout. A combination of DaViMM, the graphical database, and available biochemical databases enables an automated creation of metabolic network maps. The flexibility of this combination is demonstrated with some application examples.