Prokaryotic Systems Biology

Prokaryotic systems biology is a holistic biological approach that enables comprehensive understanding of an organism. However, two opposing strategies have been proposed to attain such understanding: the top-down and bottom-up approaches. Here we present a review of the current status of the prokaryotic systems biology field against the backdrop of the top-down vs. bottom-up debate, including such topics as current experimental and computational methods and recent literature findings. We use four prokaryotic model systems as examples, including E. coli, Caulobacter crescentus, Halobacterium NRC-1, and Helicobacter pylori. We posit that systems biology programs which pursue an integrated combination of both approaches will be the most successful in attaining comprehensive systems-level understanding of prokaryotic model organisms.

Duke Scholars

Author Amy K. Schmid Biology