Games of life and death: antibiotic resistance and production through the lens of evolutionary game theory.

Games of life and death: antibiotic resistance and production through the lens of evolutionary game theory.
Curr Opin Microbiol. 2014 Sep 27;21C:35-44
Authors: Conlin PL, Chandler JR, Kerr B
Abstract
In this review, we demonstrate how game theory can be a useful first step in modeling and understanding interactions among bacteria that produce and resist antibiotics. We introduce the basic features of evolutionary game theory and explore model microbial systems that correspond to some classical games. Each game discussed defines a different category of social interaction with different resulting population dynamics (exclusion, coexistence, bistability, cycling). We then explore how the framework can be extended to incorporate some of the complexity of natural microbial communities. Overall, the game theoretical perspective helps to guide our expectations about the evolution of some forms of antibiotic resistance and production because it makes clear the precise nature of social interaction in this context.
PMID: 25271120 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Current Opinion in Microbiology - September 27, 2014 Category: Microbiology Authors: Conlin PL, Chandler JR, Kerr B Tags: Curr Opin Microbiol Source Type: research