Cooperative behaviors in the evolution of antibiotic resistance
Name
922884934-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
19.85 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
07e922987c9ef2e4d5f1d55fef61a79c
Author(s)
Yurtsev, Evgene
Advisor(s)
Jeff Gore.
Date Issued
2015
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Through a combination of experiments and modeling, I explored how inactivation of antibiotics by antibiotic-resistant bacteria affects the evolution of antibiotic resistance in two simple microbial communities. First, I examined the interaction between a resistant strain and a sensitive strain of the bacteria Escherichia coli in the presence of the [beta]-lactam antibiotic ampicillin. Second, I investigated whether two strains of Escherichia coli can form a cross-protection mutualism in a multi-drug environment containing the antibiotics ampicillin and chloramphenicol. In both experimental systems, I found that inactivation of antibiotics by resistant bacteria is an important cooperative behavior which enables microbes to help each other survive in otherwise lethal antibiotic concentrations. The rich dynamical behaviors that arise even in these simple systems highlight the inherent challenge in deciphering the workings of more complex microbial communities.
Description
Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2015.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 132-138).
Subjects
Physics.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Terms of Use
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