Consistent microbial dynamics and functional community patterns derived from first principles.

ABSTRACT: Microbial communities are key engines that drive earth's biogeochemical cycles. However, existing ecosystem models have only limited ability to predict microbial dynamics and require the calibration of multiple population-specific empirical equations. In contrast, we build on a new kinetic "Microbial Transition State" (MTS) theory of growth derived from first principles. We show how the theory coupled to simple mass and energy balance calculations provides a framework with intrinsically important qualitative properties to model microbial community dynamics. We first show how the theory can simultaneously account for the influence of all the resources needed for growth (electron donor, acceptor, and nutrients) while still producing consistent dynamics that fulfill the Liebig rule of a singl

SUBMITTER: Delattre H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6331576 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature