The allometry of cellular DNA and ribosomal gene content among microbes and its use for the assessment of microbiome community structure.

In practical terms, that relationship allows for a single, simple correction for variations in both copy number per genome and ploidy level in ribosomal gene analyses of taxa-specific abundance. In biological terms, it points to the uniqueness of ribosomal gene content among microbial properties that scale with size. Video Abstract.