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Infection biology

Cheats never prosper

Nature volume 494, pages 321–322 (2013)Cite this article

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Fast-growing 'defector mutants' can threaten the success of a bacterial infection. But one bacterial species prevails over these cheats by forming a subpopulation that has shut down expression of virulence genes. See Letter p.353

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Figure 1: Bistability prevents the rise of mutant defectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. David T. Mulder and Brian K. Coombes are at the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research and the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada.,

    David T. Mulder & Brian K. Coombes

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  1. David T. Mulder
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  2. Brian K. Coombes
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Correspondence to Brian K. Coombes.

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Mulder, D., Coombes, B. Cheats never prosper. Nature 494, 321–322 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/494321a

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