Biosynthetic flux decreases with biosynthetic ability and increases with nutrient flexibility.

<p>The vertical axis shows biosynthetic flux in mmoles per g DW per hour in random networks as a function of a) biosynthetic ability and b) nutrient flexibility. Dots and lengths of error bars correspond to means and one standard deviations based on a sample of n = 1000 minimal networks. Solid lines indicate linear regression lines for different values of <i>B</i>. Numerical estimates of regression coefficients with 95% confidence intervals are given in the inset, in the format <i>y = (a±e)x+b</i>, where <i>a</i> is the regression coefficient, <i>e</i> the confidence interval, and <i>b</i> is the intercept of the regression line with the vertical axis.