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Antimicrobials: Constraints on microbial warfare

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Microorganisms produce antibiotics, which can exclude competitors, but bacteria typically only synthesize modest amounts of these compounds. New work suggests this may be an evolutionary strategy to balance the benefits of antimicrobial warfare against inadvertently providing help to resistant free-loaders.

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Figure 1: Trade-offs for antibiotic production.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jeremy M. Chacón and William R. Harcombe are at the Biotechnology Institute and the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA.,

    Jeremy M. Chacón & William R. Harcombe

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  1. Jeremy M. Chacón
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  2. William R. Harcombe
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Correspondence to William R. Harcombe.

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Chacón, J., Harcombe, W. Antimicrobials: Constraints on microbial warfare. Nat Microbiol 1, 16225 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.225

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