Population dynamics in the co-culture of Shigella flexneri 1b original strain and its antigenic 3b mutant carrying a prophage.

The antigenic mutant Shigella flexneri 3b showed selective prevalence when subcultured with the original strain 1b. Mathematical analysis of such co-cultures showed that the dynamics of bacterial growth may be described by equations of the Lotka-Volterra type. The analysis of serial cultivations suggests that parameters of the equations may be realizations of random variables characterizing strains and media. The mutant carries a prophage lethal for the original strain. Distinctive features of the growth of these strains alone and in co-culture may be successfully explained by the differences in growth parameters, without phage inference. The concurrence model connected only with the existence of the phage is not sufficient. A complete description of the dynamics of the co-culture is obtained by the connection of the assumptions of two models: strains in competition and growth of strains with phage, given the random character of the parameters.