Data from: Conjugative plasmid transfer is limited by prophages but can be overcome by high conjugation rates

Antibiotic resistance spread via plasmids is a serious threat to
successfully fight infections and makes understanding plasmid transfer in
nature crucial to prevent the rise of antibiotic resistance. Studies
addressing the dynamics of plasmid conjugation have yet neglected one
omnipresent factor: prophages (viruses integrated into bacterial genomes),
whose activation can kill host and surrounding bacterial cells. To
investigate the impact of prophages on conjugation, we combined
experiments and mathematical modelling. Using E. coli, prophage
lambda and the multidrug-resistant plasmid RP4 we find that prophages can
substantially limit the spread of conjugative plasmids. This inhibitory
effect was strongly dependent on environmental conditions and bacterial
genetic background. Our empirically parameterized model reproduced
experimental dynamics of cells acquiring either the prophage or the
plasmid well but failed to predict the number of cells acquiring both
elements. This suggests more complex interactions between conjugative
plasmids and prophages in sequential infections. Varying phage and plasmid
infection parameters over empirically realistic ranges revealed that
plasmids can overcome the negative impact of prophages through high
conjugation rates. Overall, the presence of prophages introduces an
additional death rate for plasmid carriers, the magnitude of which is
determined in non-trivial ways by the environment, the phage and the
plasmid.