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Updated: Dec 20, 2025
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Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance
Published on: May 2, 2018
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Evolutionary Rescue and Drug Resistance on Multicopy Plasmids
Mario Santer1, Hildegard Uecker2
1Research Group Stochastic Evolutionary Dynamics, Department of Evolutionary Theory, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, 24306 Plön, Germany santer@evolbio.mpg.de.
Genetics
|May 29, 2020
Summary
Bacterial adaptation is enhanced by beneficial genes on multicopy plasmids. The optimal plasmid copy number for evolutionary rescue depends on gene dominance and environmental factors.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Mathematical Biology
Background:
- Bacteria possess plasmids, extrachromosomal DNA, which can exist in multiple copies per cell.
- Multicopy plasmids influence bacterial evolution through increased mutation targets, allele co-occurrence, and gene dosage effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a mathematical model analyzing bacterial adaptation driven by beneficial alleles on multicopy plasmids under environmental stress.
- To investigate how plasmid copy number affects the availability of advantageous alleles and their establishment probability.
Main Methods:
- Utilized multitype branching processes to model bacterial cell types based on genetic composition.
- Analyzed the interplay between allele availability, establishment probability, and plasmid copy number.
Main Results:
- Both lower and higher plasmid copy numbers can maximize evolutionary rescue probability, depending on genetic dominance and gene dosage.
- The optimal plasmid copy number is sensitive to environmental conditions, as shown in antibiotic degradation models.
Conclusions:
- Plasmid copy number is a critical factor in bacterial adaptation and evolutionary rescue.
- Environmental context and genetic interactions dictate the optimal plasmid copy number for bacterial survival and adaptation.
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