Figure 3. Comparing the performance of suicidal E. coli λ and resistant E. coli T4r in competition against E. coli HK97 in the presence of phage T4rII in a structured environment (1.5% agar plate). Both strains significantly outcompeted E. coli HK97, indicating that suicidal host defense as well as individual-based resistance were efficient in withstanding phages. A direct comparison between the two strategies reveals that individual-based resistance is slightly but significantly better under these conditions. But note that although the experiments were performed following the exact same protocol, they were performed at different dates, which might explain some of the differences.