Biofilms and the plasmid maintenance question.

Can a conjugative plasmid encoding enhanced biofilm forming abilities for its bacterial host facilitate the persistence of the plasmid in a bacterial population despite conferring diminished growth rate and segregative plasmid loss on its bearers? We construct a mathematical model in a chemostat and in a plug flow environment to answer this question. Explicit conditions for an affirmative answer are derived. Numerical simulations support the conclusion.