Phage-mediated peripheral kill-the-winner facilitates the maintenance of costly antibiotic resistance.

ABSTRACT: The persistence of antibiotic resistant (AR) bacteria in the absence of antibiotic pressure raises a paradox regarding the fitness costs associated with antibiotic resistance. These fitness costs should slow the growth of AR bacteria and cause them to be displaced by faster-growing antibiotic sensitive (AS) counterparts. Yet, even in the absence of antibiotic pressure, slower-growing AR bacteria can persist for prolonged periods of time. Here, we demonstrate a mechanism that can explain this apparent paradox. We hypothesize that lytic phage can modulate bacterial spatial organization to facilitate the persistence of slower-growing AR bacteria. Using surface-associated growth experiments with the bacterium Escherichia coli in conjunction with individual-based computational simulations, we s

SUBMITTER: Ruan C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12219745 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature