N. M. Levine

Functional biogeography of marine microbial heterotrophs

The paper synthesizes genetic data with a marine ecosystem model to analyze functional biogeography of marine heteroprokaryotes, identifying key ecological factors shaping their distribution.

Vitamin auxotrophies shape microbial community assembly in the ocean

The paper shows that vitamin auxotrophies and lysis-mediated cross-feeding shape microbial community assembly in coastal marine environments.

Mechanistic constraints on the trade-off between photosynthesis and respiration in response to warming

The paper examines how phytoplankton adjust their metabolism in response to warming, showing that trait relationships can be altered through adaptation rather than being fixed constraints.

Rapid reductions in population size drive evolutionary divergence in diatoms

This study shows that population bottlenecks drive transcriptional diversification in diatoms through changes in gene expression patterns, even without environmental change.

Multitrait diversification in marine diatoms in constant and warmed environments

The paper studies how multiple traits in marine diatoms evolve under constant and warmed environments, finding that trait correlations shift and that multitrait evolution occurs along a major variation axis.

Bacterial chemotaxis to saccharides is governed by a trade-off between sensing and uptake

This paper shows E. coli limits maltose uptake via porins to enhance chemotactic sensitivity to micromolar maltose gradients despite having a high-affinity transport system.

Mechanistic model of nutrient uptake explains dichotomy between marine oligotrophic and copiotrophic bacteria

The paper develops a mechanistic model showing that oligotrophic bacteria use binding proteins to achieve low KM values for nutrient uptake, despite their slow diffusion, which limits growth rates compared to copiotrophs.

A unified theory for organic matter accumulation

The paper develops a theoretical framework explaining organic matter accumulation through biochemical, ecological, and environmental factors, subsuming previous hypotheses and linking microbial activity to long-term organic matter turnover.

The evolution of trait correlations constrains phenotypic adaptation to high CO2 in a eukaryotic alga

The paper shows that historical trait correlations affect adaptation rates and phenotypes in Chlamydomonas under high CO2, highlighting the need for ecological models to account for trait correlations.

Hitting a moving target: Microbial evolutionary strategies in a dynamic ocean

This study examines microbial evolutionary strategies in a dynamic ocean, finding that variable environments favor a low-β strategy with rapid short-term responses but delayed genetic adaptation.