Flux Variability Analysis: Application to Developing Oilseed Rape Embryos Using Toolboxes for Constraint-Based Modeling

Flux variability analysis enables comprehensive exploration of alternate optimal routes in a metabolic network. This method is especially useful with models such as bna572 for the developing oilseed rape embryo which is highly compartmentalized. Here, we describe a protocol for carrying out flux variability analysis on reactions and network projections of bna572 using well-established software (CellNetAnalyzer and COBRA) for constraint-based analysis of stoichiometric network reconstructions.