Ecological memory of prolonged plasmid persistence after transient antibiotic exposure
Abstract
Plasmids play critical roles in spreading and maintaining antimicrobial resistance (AMR). They often exhibit prolonged persistence after antibiotic treatment, even when they impose a substantial burden on their hosts. This persistence has been primarily attributed to rapid horizontal transfer or low plasmid cost. However, these mechanisms cannot account for the slow decay of burdensome plasmids with poor mobility. Here, we show that the decoupling of time scales between slow segregation loss and fast growth competition leads to a slowing of plasmid-abundance decay at high initial plasmid abundance. Integrating theory, simulations, and quantitative experiments across clonal populations and multispecies bacterial communities, we demonstrate that a transient antibiotic pulse can eliminate plasmid-free cells and create a segregation-loss bottleneck that extends plasmid persistence from days to weeks. Our study reveals a generalizable mechanism for the prolonged ecological memory of antibiotic exposure and underscores the need for proactive strategies to curb the spread of AMR.
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BibTeX
@article{zhou2026ecological,
title = {{Ecological memory of prolonged plasmid persistence after transient antibiotic exposure}},
author = {Zhengqing Zhou and Andrea Weiss and Zhixiang Yao and Xiaoli Chen and Jing-Mei Qian and Kristen Lok and Grayson S. Hamrick and Hye-In Son and Lingchong You},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-78240-2},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78240-2},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ecological memory of prolonged plasmid persistence after transient antibiotic exposure
AU - Zhengqing Zhou
AU - Andrea Weiss
AU - Zhixiang Yao
AU - Xiaoli Chen
AU - Jing-Mei Qian
AU - Kristen Lok
AU - Grayson S. Hamrick
AU - Hye-In Son
AU - Lingchong You
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-78240-2
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78240-2
AB - Plasmids play critical roles in spreading and maintaining antimicrobial resistance (AMR). They often exhibit prolonged persistence after antibiotic treatment, even when they impose a substantial burden on their hosts. This persistence has been primarily attributed to rapid horizontal transfer or low plasmid cost. However, these mechanisms cannot account for the slow decay of burdensome plasmids with poor mobility. Here, we show that the decoupling of time scales between slow segregation loss and fast growth competition leads to a slowing of plasmid-abundance decay at high initial plasmid abundance. Integrating theory, simulations, and quantitative experiments across clonal populations and multispecies bacterial communities, we demonstrate that a transient antibiotic pulse can eliminate plasmid-free cells and create a segregation-loss bottleneck that extends plasmid persistence from days to weeks. Our study reveals a generalizable mechanism for the prolonged ecological memory of antibiotic exposure and underscores the need for proactive strategies to curb the spread of AMR.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -