M. Manhart

Nutrient colimitation is a quantitative, dynamic property of microbial populations

This study quantifies nutrient colimitation in microbial populations, showing it occurs in lab conditions and nature, with different effects on growth rate and yield.

Physical contacts between sparse biofilms promote plasmid transfer and generate functional novelty

This study shows that biofilm collisions promote plasmid transfer between discrete biofilms, with transfer rates influenced by spatial positioning and plasmid dynamics.

Microbial population dynamics decouple growth response from environmental nutrient concentration

The paper examines how microbial population dynamics affect the adaptation of half-saturation concentrations in growth response models, showing that bottlenecks and dilutions lead to different evolutionary outcomes.

Evolution of microbial growth traits under serial dilution

This study investigates how microbial growth traits evolve under serial dilution, finding that growth rate and lag time are subject to selection while yield is not.

Understanding the evolution of interspecies interactions in microbial communities

The paper reviews how evolution shapes microbial community interactions and proposes a model linking spatial structure to the evolution of interspecies interactions.

Inferring biophysical models of evolution from genome-wide patterns of codon usage

This paper develops a biophysical population genetics model to explain genome-wide codon usage patterns across 20 organisms, finding that codon bias results from selection against mistranslation and mutational robustness.

Chromosomal barcoding of E. coli populations reveals lineage diversity dynamics at high resolution

This study uses chromosomal barcoding to track lineage diversity in E. coli populations under antibiotic stress, revealing distinct diversity loss rates and reproducible lineage fates.

Growth tradeoffs produce complex microbial communities on a single limiting resource

The paper shows that variation in microbial growth traits on a single resource can produce higher-order ecological effects, leading to complex community dynamics.

Tradeoffs between microbial growth phases lead to frequency-dependent and non-transitive selection

The paper models microbial growth phases to show how tradeoffs between growth, lag time, and yield lead to frequency-dependent and non-transitive selection.

Optimization of lag phase shapes the evolution of a bacterial enzyme

This study examines how mutations in E. coli's Adenylate Kinase affect growth phases, revealing that catalytic capacity optimizes lag time while growth rates are less affected.