Highlights•Limitations in molecular resources for gene expression influence bacterial
physiology.•Bacteria optimise trade-offs between resource allocation and growth.•Resource …

BACKGROUND: Growth rate management in fast-growing bacteria is currently an active
research area. In spite of the huge progress made in our understanding of the molecular …

Highlights•Microorganisms show a high degree of phenotypic variability even in mixed
environments.•Phenotypic heterogeneity is generated by internal and external factors.• …

Bacteria have evolved complex regulatory networks to control the activity of transcription and
translation, and thus the growth rate, over a range of environmental conditions …

Highlights•Gene expression can be surprisingly dynamic and noisy.•Cell to cell
heterogeneity in gene expression state is a widespread phenomenon.•Phenotypic diversity …

Elucidating strategies of resource allocation and metabolism is crucial for a better
understanding of microbial phenotypes. In particular, uncovering the governing principles …

Figure 1| Fast-but-inefficient and slow-but-efficient metabolic strategies and their ecological
context. Organisms adapted to exploit high nutrient concentrations produce more ribosomes …

Highlights•Finite resources lead to tradeoffs during microbial growth.•Intracellular resource
allocation determines metabolic strategies.•Availability of extracellular resources determines …

Data from nearly 1000 species reveal the upper bound to rates of biomass production
achievable by natural selection across the Tree of Life. For heterotrophs, maximum growth …

In natural habitats, microbes form multispecies communities that commonly face rapidly
changing and highly competitive environments. Thus, phenotypic heterogeneity has evolved …