Microbial communities are composed of cells of varying metabolic capacity, and regularly
include auxotrophs that lack essential metabolic pathways. Through analysis of auxotrophs …

Individuals vary widely in their responses to medicinal drugs, which can be dangerous and
expensive owing to treatment delays and adverse effects. Although increasing evidence …

The majority of known bacterial species cannot be cultivated under laboratory conditions.
Here we argue that the adaptive emergence of obligate metabolic interactions in natural …

Bacteria frequently lose biosynthetic genes, thus making them dependent on an
environmental uptake of the corresponding metabolite. Despite the ubiquity of this 'genome …

The human gut microbiome harbors hundreds of bacterial species with diverse biochemical
capabilities. Dozens of drugs have been shown to be metabolized by single isolates from …

Bacteria in the gut can modulate the availability and efficacy of therapeutic drugs. However,
the systematic mapping of the interactions between drugs and bacteria has only started …

The exchange of metabolites among different bacterial genotypes profoundly impacts the
structure and function of microbial communities. However, the factors governing the …

Bacteria that have adapted to nutrient-rich, stable environments are typically characterized
by reduced genomes. The loss of biosynthetic genes frequently renders these lineages …

Genetically identical cells are known to differ in many physiological parameters such as
growth rate and drug tolerance. Metabolic specialization is believed to be a cause of such …

Microorganisms engage in complex interactions with other organisms and their
environment. Recent studies have shown that these interactions are not limited to the …