Plasmid-mediated heterozygosity, multidrug resistance, and evolutionary rescue in
bacteria
Plasmid-mediated heterozygosity, multidrug resistance, and
evolutionary rescue in bacteria
Ian Dewan ยท Research Group Stochastic Evolutionary
Dynamics
A population adapted to one antibiotic is exposed to a second.
The population will go extinct without a novel resistance mutant.
The mutant is subject to stochastic loss,
but there is some probability it will rescue the population.
Time
Population
Extinction
Rescue
Future
Work
Mutation
Mutation
Cointegration
Mutation
Mutation
Cointegration
Distinct plasmids
0
4
8
12
16
20
Plasmid copy number
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
Rescue probability
Number of mutants
Fitness
0
Cointegrates
4
8
12
16
20
Plasmid copy number
Fitness
Number of cointegrates
0
Maximum fitness:
2.00
1.00
0.50
0.25
0.10
. . .
Alternating application