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. 2020 Mar 24;9:e52813. doi: 10.7554/eLife.52813

Figure 2. Mathematical model predicts bistability due to opposing density-dependent effects of sensitive and resistant cells on drug inhibition.

Top: bifurcation diagram showing stable (filled circles) and unstable (red dashed curves) fixed points for different values of drug influx (F) and the total number of cells (Ns+Nr). FcμK is the critical value of drug influx above which the zero solution (extinction) becomes stable; μ is the rate at which cells and drugs are removed from the system (and is measure in units of gmax, the maximum per capita growth rate of cells in drug-free media, and Kr is the factor increase in drug MIC of the resistant strain relative to the wild-type strain. Vertical black dashed lines correspond to F=F1>Fc (small drug influx, just above threshold) and F2Fc (large drug influx). Bottom panels: regions of survival (white) and extinction (grey) in the space of sensitive (Ns) and resistant (Nr) cells for flow rate F=F1 (left) and F=F2 (right). Dashed lines show separatrix, the contour separating survival from extinction. Multicolor lines represent constant resistant fractions (1/5, left; 3/4, right) at different total population sizes (ranging from 0 (blue) to a maximum density of 1 (red)). Cell numbers are measured in units of carrying capacity. Specific numerical plots were calculated with h=1.4, gmin=1/3, gmax=1, ϵ1=1.1, ϵ2=1.5, γ=0.1, Kr=14, F1=1.4, and F2=2.2.

Figure 2.

Figure 2—figure supplement 1. Separatrix contours separating survival from extinction with and without reverse inoculum effect.

Figure 2—figure supplement 1.

Contour lines separating regions of survival and extinction in the space of sensitive (Ns) and resistant (Nr) cells for a series of flow rates (increasing from blue to red) that span the bistable region with (left) and without (right) the reverse inoculum effect. Each contour line shows the separatrix for a particular value of F in the bistable region. For the lowest value of F, the region of extinction is shaded gray while the region of survival is white. Cell numbers are measured in units of carrying capacity. Specific numerical plots were calculated with h=1.4, gmin=1/3, gmax=1, ϵ2=1.5, γ=0.1, Kr=14, and flow rates ranging from 1.4<F<2.7 (left) and 1.4<F<7.1 (right). ϵ1=-1.1 in the left panel and 0 in the right panel. Initial drug concentration is set to 5x MIC of drug-sensitive cells in all panels, though qualitatively similar (but shifted) contours occur for other initial conditions.