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One of the major characteristics of living organisms is metabolic rate -amount of energy produced per unit time. When the size of organisms increases,the metabolic rate increases slower than organisms' mass. This effect is calledallometric scaling. It has important implications for the individual andpopulation organismal development. Here, we study the causes of this phenomenonconsidering metabolic properties of unicellular organisms (Amoeba Proteus,fission yeast S. pombe, E. coli, B. subtilis, Staphylococcus). We found thatthe metabolic properties of unicellular organisms are defined by two primaryfactors. One is the need to acquire nutrients through the surface in a commonnutritional environment, which forms the base part of 2/3 of an allometricexponent. The other factor is a regular increase of nutrient influx per unitsurface, when organisms' mass increases. This is a manifestation of metabolicadvantage, which bigger organisms need to have in order to support theirmetabolic requirements. On the other hand, this advantage cannot be too strong,which could lead to destruction of species, organisms feed on or compete fornutrients within the food chain. Accounting for this regular increase ofnutrient influx, we obtained allometric exponents and their range close toexperimental values. This supports an argument that the metabolic properties ofliving organisms, and interspecific allometric scaling in particular, indeed,are defined by nutrient acquisition through the surface and a regular increaseof nutrient influx per unit surface, in a way that preserves a dynamic balancebetween populations within the food chain.

The role of food chain balance and common nutritional environment in interspecific allometric scaling of unicellular organisms