Fig. 3
From: Persistence and reversal of plasmid-mediated antibiotic resistance
Conjugation-assisted persistence with multiple species and/or plasmids. a–c x-axis is days and y-axis is fraction of cells. Bold and shaded lines represent average across, or individual, initial conditions, respectively. Color indicates blue for plasmid free (S 0), and orange or red for plasmid-carrying cells (S 1) K or C, respectively. a Two-species, one-plasmid community. Left two panels: no conjugation; right two panels: with conjugation. S 0 = B0 + R0 and S 1 = BK + RK. Modeling: From bottom (i) to top (iii) α 1 = α = 1.02, 0.97, and 0.42, respectively, and α 2 = 1.03, 1.02, and 0.9 (see Supplementary Eqs. (7)–(10), Supplementary Fig. 4A). Experiment from bottom (i) to top (iii): Kan = 0, 0.5, and 2 μg/mL, respectively. b Higher cost plasmid dynamics. Modeling (left column): From bottom (i) to top (iii) α = 1.13, 1.03, and 0.3, respectively (see Supplementary Eqs. (3)–(4), Supplementary Fig. 4B). Experiment (right column): From bottom (i) to top (iii): Cm = 0, 0.5, and 2 μg/mL. c One species, two-plasmid community. Each row represents a different combination of α, modulated with no antibiotic (i), Kan (ii–iii), or Cm (iv–v). The species can carry two (S 11), one (S 10, S 01), or no plasmids (S 00). Modeling (first and third columns): From bottom (i) to top (v) α 3 = 1.3, 1.2, 0.42, 1.01, 0.35 (see Supplementary Eqs. (11)–(14), Supplementary Fig. 4B). Experiment: (second and fourth column such that S 1 = BK + BCK or S 1  = BC + BCK for K or C, respectively). BC is mixed equally with BK. d, e Three-species, three-plasmid community. Species (R, Y, and B) are uniquely fluorescent (expressing dTomato, YFP, or BFP, respectively) and plasmids (R6K, RP4, and R388, diamond, square, and circle markers, respectively) have distinct resistance markers (StrpR, KanR, and TmR, respectively). Shading color corresponds to the respective population fraction (left y-axis), and markers indicate fraction of each plasmid (right y-axis). The initial experimental composition consists of R0, RR6K, Y0, YR388, B0, and BRP4. Modeling (left): Randomized initial conditions such that the total plasmid-free populations is maintained at 1 × 10−4 , and plasmid population arbitrarily chosen between 1 × 10–5 and 1 × 106, consistent with data (Supplementary Table 2 for parameter estimates). Experiment (right): Error bars indicate averaging across four-to-six plate replicates, and repeated five times
