Species subsets and embedded networks of S-systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces new theoretical frameworks for decomposing S-system chemical reaction networks, focusing on incidence independence, linkage classes, and modularity, with applications to gene regulatory systems.

Contribution

It develops the theory of incidence-independent and - and *-decompositions for S-system CRNs, including structure theorems and network homomorphisms, advancing network analysis methods.

Findings

Defined incidence-independent decompositions for S-system CRNs

Established structure theorems for - and *-decompositions

Demonstrated network homomorphisms between subnetworks

Abstract

Magombedze and Mulder (2013) studied the gene regulatory system of \textit{Mycobacterium Tuberculosis} (\textit{Mtb}) by partitioning this into three subsystems based on putative gene function and role in dormancy/latency development. Each subsystem, in the form of $S$-system, is represented by an embedded chemical reaction network (CRN), defined by a species subset and a reaction subset induced by the set of digraph vertices of the subsystem. Based on the network decomposition theory initiated by Feinberg in 1987, we have introduced the concept of incidence-independent and developed the theory of $\mathscr{C}$- and $\mathscr{C}^*$-decompositions including their structure theorems in terms of linkage classes. With the $S$-system CRN $\mathscr{N}$ of Magombedze and Mulder's \textit{Mtb} model, its reaction set partition induced decomposition of subnetworks that are not CRNs of $S$-system but constitute independent decomposition of $\mathscr{N}$. We have also constructed a new $S$-system CRN $\mathscr{N}^*$ for which the embedded networks are $\mathscr{C}^*$-decomposition. We have shown that subnetworks of $\mathscr{N}$ and the embedded networks (subnetworks of $\mathscr{N}^*$) are digraph homomorphisms. Lastly, we attempted to explore modularity in the context of CRN.