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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Apr 15.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Ecol Evol. 2020 Apr 6;4(6):863–869. doi: 10.1038/s41559-020-1170-1

Figure 2. Predictions on the effects of host-plasmid coevolution on MDR emergence.

Figure 2.

(a) Two different species of bacteria are considered. Cells of the first species are represented as rectangles, while cells of the second are given as rods. Cells from each species possess a distinct plasmid represented by the different colored circles. Both species evolve independently for many generations in the presence of an antibiotic that selects for maintenance of the plasmid (blue-shaded medium selects for blue plasmid and red-shaded medium selects for red plasmid). (b) Isolates from each ancestral population are mixed in medium without antibiotics and tracked over a small number of transfers, in which case (c) we predict low numbers of MDR cells (containing both plasmids) arising (dashed line). (d) However, we predict the incidence of MDR cells is higher (solid line), when (e) isolates from the evolved populations are mixed in antibiotic-free medium.