Microbial Life History: The Fundamental Forces of Biological Design

by Steven A. Frank

Overview

A powerful framework for understanding how natural selection shapes adaptation and biological design

Design and diversity are the two great challenges in the study of life. Microbial Life History draws on the latest advances in microbiology to describe the fundamental forces of biological design and apply these evolutionary processes to a broad diversity of traits in microbial metabolism and biochemistry.

Emphasizing how to formulate and test hypotheses of adaptation, Steven Frank provides a new foundation for exploring the evolutionary forces of design. He discusses the economic principles of marginal valuations, trade-offs, and payoffs in risky and random environments; the social aspects of conflict and cooperation; the demographic aspects of age and spatial heterogeneity; and the engineering control theory principles by which systems adjust to environments. Frank then applies these evolutionary principles to the biochemistry of microbial metabolism, providing the first comprehensive link between the forces that shape biological design and cellular energetics.

Tracing how natural selection sculpts metabolism, Microbial Life History provides new perspectives on the life histories of organisms, from growth rate and survival to dispersal and defense against attack. Along the way, this incisive book addresses the conceptual and philosophical challenges confronting evolutionary biologists and other practitioners who study biological design and seek to apply its lessons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691231181
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/16/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Steven A. Frank is Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. His books include Dynamics of Cancer, Immunology and Evolution of Infectious Disease, and Foundations of Social Evolution (all Princeton).

Table of Contents

Preface xi

1 Microbial Design 1

How to Read

Theoretical Background

The Design of Metabolism

Part 1 Theoretical Background

2 Forces of Design 11

What Is Fitness?

The Difficulty of Measuring Fitness

3 Comparison and Causality 17

Comparative Predictions

Evolutionary Response versus Organismal Response

Fundamental Forces and Partial Causes

Causal Inference

Structure and Notation of Comparative Predictions

Recap and Goal

4 Brief Examples 29

Metabolism and Growth Rate

Support by Empirical Test

Patch lifespan and Microbial Cancer

Heterogeneity in Public Goods

Stage-Dependent Growth

Summary

5 Theory: Forces 43

Tragedy of the Commons

Similiarity Selection and Kin Selection

Tradeoffs and Marginal Values

Repression of Competition

Heterogeneity in Vigor and Public Goods

Demography and Reproductive Value

Stage-Dependent Traits in Life Cycle

The Three Measures of Value

Scaling of Time and Space

Variable Environments

6 Theory: Traits 83

Nature of Traits

Modification of Traits

Origin of Traits

7 Theory: Control 95

Error-Correcting Feedback and Robustness

Principles of Control

Error Correction and Signal Amplification

Robustness to Process Uncertainty

Responsiveness versus Homeostasis

Sensors

Control Tradeoffs

8 Studying Biological Design 115

Part 2 The Design of Metabolism

9 Microbial Metabolism 121

10 Growth Rate 123

Comparative Hypotheses in the Study of Design

Testing Comparative Predictions

Comparative Predictions about Growth Rate

Comparative Predictions about Tradeoffs

11 Thermodynamics: Biochemical Flux 141

Entropy Production

Force and Resistance Determine Flux

Mechanisms of Metabolic Flux Control

12 Flux Modulation: Driving Force 155

Near-Equilibrium Glycolysis

Overflow Metabolism: Mechanisms

Overflow Metabolism: Design Puzzles

Evolutionary Timescale

Alternative Glycolytic Pathways

13 Flux Modulation: Resistance 189

Resistance Impedes Flux

Mechanisms to Alter Resistance and Flux

Genetic Drift

Challenges in Control Design

Problems of Flux Modulation

Limitations and Prospects

14 Variant Pathways 205

Glycolytic Yield

Final Electron Acceptors

Weak Redox Gradients

Electron Flow between Cells

Alternative Carbon Sources

Hierarchical Usage of Complex Carbohydrates

Puzzles of Design

15 Tradeoffs 227

Biophysical Constraints and Cellular Allocation

Exploration versus Exploitation versus Regulation

Thermodynamics and Biochemical Flux

Fitness Components and Life History

Warfare versus Productive Traits

Cooperative Traits

Timescale Tradeoffs

Bet-Hedging Tradeoffs

Control Tradeoffs

Summary

16 Predictions: Overflow Metabolism 253

Comparative Predictions and Partial Causes

Background

Proteome limitation

Membrane Space Limitation

Response to Environmental Challenge

Summary

17 Predictions: Diauxie, Electrons, Storage 291

Switching between Food Sources

Distributed Electron Flux

Storage When Resources Fluctuate

Challenges in the Study of Design

18 Design Revisited 331

References 333

Index 369

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“An important book. Reading Steven Frank is like sitting down to the most sumptuous feast imaginable. His writing is a delicious repast, one that compels you to think in new ways and puzzle over things you thought you understood.”—Joan Strassmann, Washington University in St. Louis

“A powerful tool to tackle questions of microbial design.”—Rolf Kümmerli, University of Zurich

“Frank provides a brilliant guide for how to think in terms of biological design, which has diverse and profound applications in fields ranging from microbiology to macroevolution. Microbial Life History is destined to be a classic in evolutionary biology and ecology.”—Bernard J. Crespi, Simon Fraser University