Wenying Shou

The increasing use of ‘equal contribution’ designations (i.e., co-first or co-last authors) [1] rightfully reflects the rising importance of collaborative and interdisciplinary science. In some biomedical and clinical journals, co-first authorship was absent in 1990, but appeared in >30% of research articles by 2012 [2]. This shift reflects the evolving nature of modern science. However, our system for credit and recognition has not kept pace.

eLife Assessment This important study of artificial selection in microbial communities shows that the possibility of selecting a desired fraction of slow and fast-growing types is impacted by their initial fractions. The evidence, which relies on mathematical analysis and simulations of a stochastic model, is compelling. It highlights the tension between selection at the strain and the community level.

Abstract Metabolic behaviours of cells, such as metabolic overflow, involve regulation of metabolic fluxes across differ- ent pathways. Two well-established concepts in flux regulation are the transcriptional regulation, involving changes in enzyme levels through gene regulation, and allosteric regulation, involving changes in enzyme catalytic activities through metabolite binding. Here, we describe an additional mechanism arising through co-substrate usage around metabolic branch points.