Cells in assemblages differentiate and perform distinct roles. Though many pathways of
differentiation are understood at the molecular level in multicellular eukaryotes, the …

Highlights•Cells of clonal microbial populations can vary in metabolite levels and metabolic
fluxes.•Ecological factors, inherent dynamics and molecular noise cause metabolic …

Bacteria commonly live in spatially structured biofilm assemblages, which are encased by
an extracellular matrix. Metabolic activity of the cells inside biofilms causes gradients in local …

The interaction between a cell and its environment shapes fundamental intracellular
processes such as cellular metabolism. In most cases growth rate is treated as a proximal …

Microbes in the wild face highly variable and unpredictable environments and are naturally
selected for their average growth rate across environments. Apart from using sensory …

Highlights•Phenotypic heterogeneity in metabolism is driven by nutrient limitation.•Nutrient
limitation underpins metabolic heterogeneity caused by temporal fluctuations in substrate …

Environmental and host-associated microbiomes are typically diverse assemblages of
organisms performing myriad activities and engaging in a network of interactions that play …

Inside individual cells, protein population counts are subject to molecular noise due to low
copy numbers and the inherent probabilistic nature of biochemical processes. We …

High-resolution imaging with secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS) has become a
standard method in systems biology and environmental biogeochemistry and is broadly …

Single-cell measurements of biochemical processes have advanced our understanding of
cellular physiology in individual microbes and microbial populations. Due to methodological …