CRISPR-based herd immunity can limit phage epidemics in bacterial populations
Herd immunity, a process in which resistant individuals limit the spread of a pathogen among susceptible hosts has been extensively studied in eukaryotes. Even though bacteria have evolved multiple immune systems against their phage pathogens, herd immunity in bacteria remains unexplored. Here we ex...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2018-03-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/32035 |
| _version_ | 1818019596014190592 |
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| author | Pavel Payne Lukas Geyrhofer Nicholas H Barton Jonathan P Bollback |
| author_facet | Pavel Payne Lukas Geyrhofer Nicholas H Barton Jonathan P Bollback |
| author_sort | Pavel Payne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Herd immunity, a process in which resistant individuals limit the spread of a pathogen among susceptible hosts has been extensively studied in eukaryotes. Even though bacteria have evolved multiple immune systems against their phage pathogens, herd immunity in bacteria remains unexplored. Here we experimentally demonstrate that herd immunity arises during phage epidemics in structured and unstructured Escherichia coli populations consisting of differing frequencies of susceptible and resistant cells harboring CRISPR immunity. In addition, we develop a mathematical model that quantifies how herd immunity is affected by spatial population structure, bacterial growth rate, and phage replication rate. Using our model we infer a general epidemiological rule describing the relative speed of an epidemic in partially resistant spatially structured populations. Our experimental and theoretical findings indicate that herd immunity may be important in bacterial communities, allowing for stable coexistence of bacteria and their phages and the maintenance of polymorphism in bacterial immunity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:54:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0c708efed3374497bd48328e66b4684d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:54:25Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-0c708efed3374497bd48328e66b4684d2022-12-22T02:05:05ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2018-03-01710.7554/eLife.32035CRISPR-based herd immunity can limit phage epidemics in bacterial populationsPavel Payne0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2711-9453Lukas Geyrhofer1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8043-2975Nicholas H Barton2Jonathan P Bollback3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4624-4612Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom; Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, AustriaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IsraelInstitute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, AustriaInstitute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom; Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, AustriaHerd immunity, a process in which resistant individuals limit the spread of a pathogen among susceptible hosts has been extensively studied in eukaryotes. Even though bacteria have evolved multiple immune systems against their phage pathogens, herd immunity in bacteria remains unexplored. Here we experimentally demonstrate that herd immunity arises during phage epidemics in structured and unstructured Escherichia coli populations consisting of differing frequencies of susceptible and resistant cells harboring CRISPR immunity. In addition, we develop a mathematical model that quantifies how herd immunity is affected by spatial population structure, bacterial growth rate, and phage replication rate. Using our model we infer a general epidemiological rule describing the relative speed of an epidemic in partially resistant spatially structured populations. Our experimental and theoretical findings indicate that herd immunity may be important in bacterial communities, allowing for stable coexistence of bacteria and their phages and the maintenance of polymorphism in bacterial immunity.https://elifesciences.org/articles/32035CRISPRherd immunityphagebacteriaepidemicpolymorphism |
| spellingShingle | Pavel Payne Lukas Geyrhofer Nicholas H Barton Jonathan P Bollback CRISPR-based herd immunity can limit phage epidemics in bacterial populations eLife CRISPR herd immunity phage bacteria epidemic polymorphism |
| title | CRISPR-based herd immunity can limit phage epidemics in bacterial populations |
| title_full | CRISPR-based herd immunity can limit phage epidemics in bacterial populations |
| title_fullStr | CRISPR-based herd immunity can limit phage epidemics in bacterial populations |
| title_full_unstemmed | CRISPR-based herd immunity can limit phage epidemics in bacterial populations |
| title_short | CRISPR-based herd immunity can limit phage epidemics in bacterial populations |
| title_sort | crispr based herd immunity can limit phage epidemics in bacterial populations |
| topic | CRISPR herd immunity phage bacteria epidemic polymorphism |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/32035 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pavelpayne crisprbasedherdimmunitycanlimitphageepidemicsinbacterialpopulations AT lukasgeyrhofer crisprbasedherdimmunitycanlimitphageepidemicsinbacterialpopulations AT nicholashbarton crisprbasedherdimmunitycanlimitphageepidemicsinbacterialpopulations AT jonathanpbollback crisprbasedherdimmunitycanlimitphageepidemicsinbacterialpopulations |