Phenotypic plasticity trade-offs in an age-structured model of bacterial growth under stress

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Karoui, Meriem El, Madrid, Ignacio, Méléard, Sylvie
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Karoui, Meriem El
Madrid, Ignacio
Méléard, Sylvie
author_facet Karoui, Meriem El
Madrid, Ignacio
Méléard, Sylvie
contents Under low concentrations of antibiotics causing DNA damage, \textit{Escherichia coli} bacteria can trigger stochastically a stress response known as the SOS response. While the expression of this stress response can make individual cells transiently able to overcome antibiotic treatment, it can also delay cell division, thus impacting the whole population's ability to grow and survive. In order to study the trade-offs that emerge from this phenomenon, we propose a bi-type age-structured population model that captures the phenotypic plasticity observed in the stress response. Individuals can belong to two types: either a fast-dividing but prone to death ``vulnerable'' type, or a slow-dividing but ``tolerant'' type. We study the survival probability of the population issued from a single cell as well as the population growth rate in constant and periodic environments. We show that the sensitivity of these two different notions of fitness with respect to the parameters describing the phenotypic plasticity differs between the stochastic approach (survival probability) and the deterministic approach (population growth rate). Moreover, under a more realistic configuration of periodic stress, our results indicate that optimal population growth can only be achieved through fine-tuning simultaneously both the induction of the stress response and the repair efficiency of the damage caused by the antibiotic.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_13415
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Phenotypic plasticity trade-offs in an age-structured model of bacterial growth under stress
Karoui, Meriem El
Madrid, Ignacio
Méléard, Sylvie
Analysis of PDEs
Probability
Under low concentrations of antibiotics causing DNA damage, \textit{Escherichia coli} bacteria can trigger stochastically a stress response known as the SOS response. While the expression of this stress response can make individual cells transiently able to overcome antibiotic treatment, it can also delay cell division, thus impacting the whole population's ability to grow and survive. In order to study the trade-offs that emerge from this phenomenon, we propose a bi-type age-structured population model that captures the phenotypic plasticity observed in the stress response. Individuals can belong to two types: either a fast-dividing but prone to death ``vulnerable'' type, or a slow-dividing but ``tolerant'' type. We study the survival probability of the population issued from a single cell as well as the population growth rate in constant and periodic environments. We show that the sensitivity of these two different notions of fitness with respect to the parameters describing the phenotypic plasticity differs between the stochastic approach (survival probability) and the deterministic approach (population growth rate). Moreover, under a more realistic configuration of periodic stress, our results indicate that optimal population growth can only be achieved through fine-tuning simultaneously both the induction of the stress response and the repair efficiency of the damage caused by the antibiotic.
title Phenotypic plasticity trade-offs in an age-structured model of bacterial growth under stress
topic Analysis of PDEs
Probability
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.13415