要旨：
Bacteria are repeatedly exposed to an excess of phages, and carry
evidence of this in terms of multiple defense mechanisms encoded in
their genome. In addition to molecular mechanisms, bacteria may exploit
the defense of spatial refuges. Here we demonstrate how bacteria can
limit the impact of a virulent phage attack by growing as a colony which
only exposes its surface to phages. We identify a critical size of the
initial colony, below which the phages entirely eliminates the colony,
and above which the colony continues to grow despite the presence of
phages. Our study suggests that coexistence of phages and bacteria is
strongly influenced by the spatial composition of microcolonies of
susceptible bacteria.
参考文献
Rasmus Skytte Eriksen, Sine Lo Svenningsen, Kim Sneppen, and Namiko Mitarai,
“A Growing Microcolony can Survive and Support Persistent Propagation of Virulent Phages”
Preprint: bioRxiv 149062 (2017) (doi:
https://doi.org/10.1101/149062).