1.   Many basic metabolic pathways show striking similarities throughout the bacterial, plant and animal kingdoms.

2.   This reduction of carbon dioxide to carbohydrates takes place in a series of small steps, a metabolic pathway.

3.   Bacteria possess an ancient metabolic pathway that synthesizes acetic acid, a simple chemical based on two carbon atoms stuck together.

4.   Even a simple bacterium like E. coli is a jungle of interconnected metabolic pathways.