https://doi.org/10.25678/000C1F

Data for: Phage predation accelerates the spread of plasmid-encoded antibiotic resistance

The spread of antibiotic resistance is an emerging health crisis. Here, we demonstrate that phage predation can increase the transfer and proliferation of plasmid-encoded antibiotic resistance during surface-associated growth by reshaping microbial spatial organization. Using two strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli where one is a plasmid donor and the other a potential recipient, we demonstrate that phage predation slows the spatial demixing of the strains. This increases the number of cell-cell contacts and the extent of plasmid transfer between them. The underlying mechanism is that phage predation shifts the region of maximal cell growth from the biomass periphery to the interior where cell movement is highly constrained. This creates straighter interfaces between the strains that are less likely to coalesce with neighboring interfaces, thus slowing spatial demixing and enhancing plasmid transfer. Our results demonstrate that phage predation can promote the spread of antibiotic resistance with implications for phage therapy.

Data and Resources

Citation

Johnson, D., & Ruan, C. (2023). Data for: Phage predation accelerates the spread of plasmid-encoded antibiotic resistance (Version 1.0). Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.25678/000C1F

Metadata

  Publication Data Package for:
  • Missing publication reference
Open Data Open Data
Long-term data Long-term data
Author
  • Johnson, David
  • Ruan, Chujin
Keywords Microbial ecosystems,spatial organization,plasmids,antibiotic resistance,phage interactions
Variables
  • bacteria_abundance
  • concentration
  • flow_cytometric_cell_counts
  • fluorescence
Substances (scientific names)
  • None
Substances (generic terms)
  • None
Taxa (scientific names)
  • Escherichia coli
Organisms (generic terms)
  • bacteria
Systems
  • lab
Timerange
  • *
  • 2022 TO 2023
Review Level domain specific
Curator Johnson, David
Contact Johnson, David <David.Johnson@eawag.ch>
DOI 10.25678/000C1F