Gradient metapopulation microfluidic ecologies shape genetic and biofilm drivers of T4r phage resistance in E. coli
We use a gradient microfluidic metapopulation ecology which generates non-uniform phage concentration gradients and micro-ecological niches to reveal the importance of time, spatial population structure and collective population dynamics in the de novo evolution of T4r bacteriophage resistant motile E. coli. An insensitive bacterial population against T4r phage occurs within 20 hours in small interconnected population niches created by a gradient of phage virions, driven by evolution in transient biofilm patches. Sequencing of the resistant bacteria reveals mutations at the receptor site of bacteriophage T4r as expected but also in genes associated with biofilm formation and surface adhesion, supporting the hypothesis that evolution within transient biofilms drives de novo phage resistance.
Authors
- Sarshad Koderi Valappil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1627-1572)
- Sophia Winslow
- Shengkai Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3052-410X)
- Julia Bos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4947-4675)
- László Dér
- Robert H. Austin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4269-6793)
- Péter Galajda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3308-088X)
- Krisztina Nagy
- Ryan Morris
- Gabor Rakhely
- Trung V. Phan
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Institut Pasteur (FR)
- Princeton University (US)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- University of Szeged (HU)
- HUN-REN Szegedi Biológiai Kutatóközpont (HU)
- University of Northwestern (US)
- Institute of Biophysics (HU)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Biofilms and Microbiomes
- Published
- 2026-04-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-026-00959-z
- Primary Topic
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation