The dynamics of bacteria-plasmid systems (Q1315131)

The authors introduce a general model for the dynamics of a system containing a single plasmid type and a single bacterial cell type. The general model admits multiple equilibria, two of which are plasmid-free. For the particular case of mortality being a linear function of population size, multiple equilibrium states and threshold values exist. This illustrates that, in some cases, the establishment of a population of plasmids may depend on the introduction of plasmids at sufficiently high levels. In the linear mortality case, a locally asymptotically stable equilibrium with coexistence of plasmids and bacteria is possible. The authors also analyze, for a general monotonically increasing mortality function, the case in which plasmids confer a net cost on their hosts and demonstrate that it is possible for an asymptotically stable equilibrium with plasmids and bacteria coexisting to exist, i.e. for such plasmids to become established in the bacterial population.