The effect of antibiotic resistance on competitive ability and niche overlap in microbial systems

There is a growing awareness that tackling antibiotic resistance necessitates a deeper understanding of how resource competition, within and between species, modulates the fitness of resistant microbes. Recent advances in ecological theory offer a powerful framework to probe the mechanisms regulating intra- and inter-specific competition, but the significance of this body of theory to the problem of antibiotic resistance has been largely overlooked.

This experimental project will use microbial competition assays to investigate the effect of resistance mutations on competitive ability and niche overlap between resistant strains and other bacteria.

Supervisor: Dr Andrew Letten