ArticlePLoS biology2021
Individual bacteria in structured environments rely on phenotypic resistance to phage.
Article in PLoS biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Phage-encoded contingency loci enable bet-hedging against host defence mechanisms.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Contributions of persisters and the Eagle effect to survival ofMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Bacteriophage Density Influences the Rate of Resistance Evolution.Bulletin of mathematical biology · 2026Article
- Gradient metapopulation microfluidic ecologies shape genetic and biofilm drivers of T4r phage resistance in E. coli.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Article
- Live and let die: Lysis time variability and resource limitation shape lytic bacteriophage fitness.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2026Review
- Article
- Phages use contingency loci as a bet-hedging strategy.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Single-colony resolution of CRISPR-Cas adaptation in E. coli reveals altered spacer-source bias during solid-phase growth.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Bacteriophage density influences the rate of resistance evolution.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Phage provoke growth delays and SOS response induction despite CRISPR-Cas protection.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Heterogeneous efflux pump expression underpins phenotypic resistance to antimicrobial peptides.eLife · 2025Article
- A bacterial toxin-antitoxin system as a native defence element against RNA phages.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Article
- Phage-induced efflux down-regulation boosts antibiotic efficacy.PLoS pathogens · 2024Article
- Microfluidic Ecology Unravels the Genetic and Ecological Drivers of T4r Bacteriophage Resistance in E. coli: Insights into Biofilm-Mediated Evolution.Research square · 2024Article
- Evolution of the T4 phage virion is driven by selection pressure from non-bacterial factors.Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Slow growing bacteria survive bacteriophage in isolation.ISME communications · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Bacteriophages represent an avenue to overcome the current antibiotic resistance crisis, but evolution of genetic resistance to phages remains a concern. In vitro, bacteria evolve genetic resistance, preventing phage adsorption or degrading phage DNA. In natural environments, evolved resistance is lower possibly because the spatial heterogeneity within biofilms, microcolonies, or wall populations favours phenotypic survival to lytic phages. However, it is also possible that the persistence of genetically sensitive bacteria is due to less efficient phage amplification in natural environments, the existence of refuges where bacteria can hide, and a reduced spread of resistant genotypes. Here, we monitor the interactions between individual planktonic bacteria in isolation in ephemeral refuges and bacteriophage by tracking the survival of individual cells. We find that in these transient spatial refuges, phenotypic resistance due to reduced expression of the phage receptor is a key determinant of bacterial survival. This survival strategy is in contrast with the emergence of genetic resistance in the absence of ephemeral refuges in well-mixed environments. Predictions generated via a mathematical modelling framework to track bacterial response to phages reveal that the presence of spatial refuges leads to fundamentally different population dynamics that should be considered in order to predict and manipulate the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of bacteria-phage interactions in naturally structured environments.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.