Table 1.
A summary of variables and parameters used in this study.
| variable or parameter | definition | values |
|---|---|---|
| ρi | the density of a bacteria cell or doublet of type i | 0–1 |
| V | a vacant site | — |
| 0 | a plasmidless bacteria | — |
| 1 | a bacteria that has a PSK− plasmid | — |
| 2 | a bacteria that has a PSK+ plasmid | — |
| 3 | a bacteria that contains both a PSK− plasmid and PSK+ plasmid (transconjugant) | — |
| A | strain A bacteria | — |
| B | strain B bacteria | — |
| m | the rate of conjugation per plasmid (h−1) [6,14–18] | 10−7–10−4 |
| δ | the rate of segregational loss per plasmid (h−1) [6,13,19,20] | 5 × 10−4–5 × 10−3 |
| b | the rate of birth of a bacterial cell (h−1) [20–24] | 0.04–0.8 |
| d | the rate of death of a bacteria (h−1) [6,25,26] | 0.009 – 3/4b |
| ci | the cost of carrying a plasmid for a bacteria of type i [6,13,19] | see electronic supplementary material S1 |