Spatial population dynamics of bacterial colonies with social antibiotic resistance

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Denk-Lobnig, Marlis K.; Wood, Kevin B.
• 署名单位: University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-9922
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.241706512
• 发表日期: 2025-02-18
• 关键词: beta-lactamase; EVOLUTION; mechanisms; COOPERATION; tolerance; biofilms; pattern; penicillins; genetics

摘要

Bacteria frequently inhabit surface- attached communities where rich social interac-tions can significantly alter their population- level behavior, including their response to antibiotics. Understanding these collective effects in spatially heterogeneous communi-ties is an ongoing challenge. Here, we investigated the spatial organization that emerges from antibiotic exposure in initially randomly distributed communities containing antibiotic- resistant and - sensitive strains of Enterococcus faecalis, an opportunistic path-ogen. We identified that a range of complex spatial structures emerged in the population homeland-the inoculated region that microbes inhabit prior to range expansion-which depended on initial colony composition and antibiotic concentration. We found that these arrangements were explained by cooperative interactions between resistant and sensitive subpopulations with a variable spatial scale, the result of dynamic zones of protection afforded to sensitive cells by growing populations of enzyme- producing resistant neighbors. Using a combination of experiments and mathematical models, we explored the complex spatiotemporal interaction dynamics that create these patterns, and predicted spatial arrangements of sensitive and resistant subpopulations under new conditions. We illustrated how spatial population dynamics in the homeland affect subsequent range expansion, both because they modulate the composition of the initial expanding front, and through long- range cooperation between the homeland and the expanding region. Finally, we showed that these spatial constraints resulted in popu-lations whose size and composition differed markedly from matched populations in well- stirred (planktonic) cultures. These findings underscore the importance of spatial structure and cooperation, long- studied features in theoretical ecology, for determining the fate of bacterial communities under antibiotic exposure