Fig. 10: VRE and CRE achieved high growth in co-culture, but VRE growth was slightly suppressed.

a E. faecium (NCTC 12202) and E. faecalis (NCTC 12201) were co-cultured in a minimal medium supplemented with a mixture of nutrients that were enriched in antibiotic-treated faecal microbiomes. Monoculture growth shown in grey. E. faecium growth when co-cultured with E. faecalis shown in green. E. faecalis growth when co-cultured with E. faecium shown in blue. b E. faecium (NCTC 12202) or E. faecalis (NCTC 12201) were co-cultured with K. pneumoniae, E. coli, or E. hormaechei in a minimal medium supplemented with a mixture of nutrients that were enriched in antibiotic-treated faecal microbiomes. Monoculture growth shown in grey. E. faecium or E. faecalis growth when co-cultured with K. pneumoniae shown in red, with E. coli shown in orange, and with E. hormaechei shown in yellow. K. pneumoniae, E. coli, or E. hormaechei growth when co-cultured with E. faecium shown in blue, and with E. faecalis shown in green. For panels a and b, each strain was inoculated into the minimal media at a concentration of 10³ CFU/ml (represented as the grey dashed line) and the cultures were incubated for 24 h under anaerobic conditions. Samples were plated on Brilliance VRE plates to quantify E. faecium or E. faecalis growth and on Brilliance CRE plates to quantify K. pneumoniae, E. coli, or E. hormaechei growth. Growth of each isolate was measured with 6 replicates in two independent experiments. Comparison of E. faecium and E. faecalis monoculture growth to co-culture growth was made using an unpaired t-test (two-sided). Comparison of VRE strain and CRE strain monoculture growth to co-culture growth was made using a one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparison test. * = P ≤ 0.05, ** = P ≤ 0.01, *** = P ≤ 0.001, **** = P ≤ 0.0001. Data are presented as mean values ± SD.