Bacteria are social organisms that commonly live in dense communities surrounded by a multitude of other species. The competitive and cooperative interactions between these species not only shape the bacterial communities but also influence their susceptibility to antimicrobials. While several studies have shown that mixed-species communities are more tolerant toward antimicrobials than their monospecies counterparts, only limited empirical data are currently available on how interspecies interactions influence resistance development. We here propose a theoretic framework outlining the potential impact of interspecies social behavior on different aspects of resistance development. We identify factors by which interspecies interactions might influence resistance evolution and distinguish between their effect on ( a) the emergence of a resistant mutant and ( b) the spread of this resistance throughout the population. Our analysis indicates that considering the social life of bacteria is imperative to the rational design of more effective antibiotic treatment strategies with a minimal hazard for resistance development.

中文翻译：

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微生物种间相互作用及其对抗菌素耐药性出现和传播的影响

细菌是社会生物，通常生活在被许多其他物种包围的密集群落中。这些物种之间的竞争和合作相互作用不仅塑造细菌群落，而且影响它们对抗菌药物的敏感性。虽然一些研究表明，混合物种群落比单一物种群落对抗菌药物具有更强的耐受性，但目前关于物种间相互作用如何影响耐药性发展的经验数据非常有限。我们在这里提出了一个理论框架，概述了种间社会行为对抵抗力发展的不同方面的潜在影响。我们确定了种间相互作用可能影响抗性进化的因素，并区分了它们对（a）抗性突变体的出现和（b）这种抗性在整个群体中传播的影响。我们的分析表明，考虑细菌的社会生活对于合理设计更有效的抗生素治疗策略至关重要，并且将耐药性发展的风险降至最低。