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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Procedure for Adaptive Laboratory Evolution of Microorganisms Using a Chemostat
Published on: September 20, 2016
Molecular-level tradeoffs and metabolic adaptation to simultaneous stressors
1Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. rossc@erc.montana.edu
Abstract:
Life is a dynamic process driven by the complex interplay between physical constraints and selection pressures, ranging from nutrient limitation to inhibitory substances to predators. These stressors are not mutually exclusive; microbes have faced concurrent challenges for eons. Genome-enabled systems biology approaches are adapting economic and ecological concepts like tradeoff curves and strategic resource allocation theory to analyze metabolic adaptations to simultaneous stressors. These methodologies can accurately describe and predict metabolic adaptations to concurrent stresses by considering the tradeoff between investment of limiting resources into enzymatic machinery and the resulting cellular function. The approaches represent promising links between computational biology and well-established economic and ecological methodologies for analyzing the interplay between physical constraints and microbial fitness.
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