Genome-Scale In Silico Models of E. coli Have Multiple Equivalent Phenotypic States: Assessment of Correlated Reaction Subsets That Comprise Network States

Comparisons of properties for sampled optima with all optima. The number of variable fluxes and the allowable ranges for these fluxes across all optima were calculated using a flux variability analysis. Each line is for one of the 88 carbon sources capable of supporting aerobic growth. (A) shows that as the number of calculated optima increases, the number of variable fluxes found in these sampled optimal solutions approaches the total number of variable fluxes. (B) shows how the magnitude of the flux variations is represented by the sampled optima relative to the actual flux variability across all optima.