Using the Graemlin network alignment algorithm [37], four candidate <i>myo</i>-inositol ABC transporter operons in <i>S. meliloti</i> were initially identified using the experimentally-defined <i>C. crescentus</i> inositol module as an alignment template.

The BLAST score of each of the three protein subunits encoded in these candidate transporter operons was calculated against the equivalent protein subunits in each of our predicted myo-inositol ABC transporters from Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Brucella melitensis, and Mesorhizobium loti, and against the known myo-inositol ABC transporter of C. crescentus. For each species, the highest scoring hit is shown in bold. Instances in which the protein in our final network alignment was not contained within the top 20 BLAST scores are left blank. The S. meliloti operon predicted to function as a myo-inositol transporter in our final network alignment (see Figures 6 & 7) is highlighted in italics. Although this operon does not contain the highest scoring hits to each of the known subunits of the C. crescentus transporter, it has the highest overall conservation across the species included in our multiple network alignment (8 out of 15 possible top hits).