Free-living microbes are generally capable of growing on multiple different nutrients. Some of those nutrients are used simultaneously, while others are used sequentially. The pattern of nutrient preferences and co-utilization defines the metabolic strategy of a microorganism. Metabolic strategies can substantially affect ecological interactions between species, but their evolution and distribution across the tree of life remain poorly characterized. We discuss how the confluence of better computational models of genotype-phenotype maps and high-throughput experimental tools can help us fill gaps in our knowledge and incorporate metabolic strategies into quantitative predictive models of microbial consortia.

中文翻译：

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微生物代谢策略的生态学和进化。

自由生存的微生物通常能够在多种不同的营养素上生长。这些营养素中的一些同时使用，而其他则依次使用。营养偏好和共同利用的模式定义了微生物的代谢策略。代谢策略可以极大地影响物种之间的生态相互作用，但是它们在整个生命树中的进化和分布仍然缺乏明确的特征。我们讨论了更好的基因型-表型图和高通量实验工具计算模型的融合如何帮助我们填补知识空白，并将代谢策略纳入微生物群落的定量预测模型。