Abstract
Spatially or chemically isolated modules that carry out discrete functions are considered fundamental building blocks of cellular organization. However, detecting them in highly integrated biological networks requires a thorough understanding of the organization of these networks. In this chapter I argue that many biological networks are organized into many small, highly connected topologic modules that combine in a hierarchical manner into larger, less cohesive units. On top of a scale-free degree distribution, these networks show a power law scaling of the clustering coefficient with the node degree, a property that can be used as a signature of hierarchical organization. As a case study, I identify the hierarchical modules within the Escherichia coli metabolic network, and show that the uncovered hierarchical modularity closely overlaps with known metabolic functions.
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Ravasz, E. (2009). Detecting Hierarchical Modularity in Biological Networks. In: Ireton, R., Montgomery, K., Bumgarner, R., Samudrala, R., McDermott, J. (eds) Computational Systems Biology. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 541. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-243-4_7
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