title: Phenotypically heterogeneous populations in spatially heterogeneous environments.
abstract: The spatial expansion of a population in a nonuniform environment may benefit from phenotypic heterogeneity with interconverting subpopulations using different survival strategies. We analyze the crossing of an antibiotic-containing environment by a bacterial population consisting of rapidly growing normal cells and slow-growing, but antibiotic-tolerant persister cells. The dynamics of crossing is characterized by mean first arrival times and is found to be surprisingly complex. It displays three distinct regimes with different scaling behavior that can be understood based on an analytical approximation. Our results suggest that a phenotypically heterogeneous population has a fitness advantage in nonuniform environments and can spread more rapidly than a homogeneous population.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Pintu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Patra
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klumpp
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena / Q000187:drug effects*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents