Search results for "multispecies interactions"

Multispecies coinfections and presence of antibiotics shape resistance and fitness costs in a pathogenic bacterium

2023

Increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a challenge for treatment of bacterial diseases. In real life, bacterial infections are typically embedded within complex multispecies communities and influenced by the environment, which can shape costs and benefits of AMR. However, knowledge of such interactions and their implications for AMR in vivo is limited. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated fitness-related traits of a pathogenic bacterium (Flavobacterium columnare) in its fish host, capturing the effects of bacterial antibiotic resistance, coinfections between bacterial strains and metazoan parasites (fluke Diplostomum pseudospathaceum) and antibiotic exposure. We quantifie…