Asymtomatic carriage of Citrobacter rodentium

Cooperative defenses are physiological adaptations that allow organisms to survive infections while having neutral/positive effects on the pathogen's fitness. Unlike resistance mechanisms that eliminate the pathogen, it has been proposed that cooperative defenses may promote long-term asymptomatic carriage of pathogens. Here we examine the mechanism of how cooperative defenses and immune resistance in mice allow for persistence, and asymptomatic colonization by the lethal gut pathogen, Citrobacter rodentium.