Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) such as plasmids and temperate phage are widespread within microbial communities, often encoding critical traits such as antimicrobial resistance or virulence factors. Despite their prevalence, the impact of these MGEs upon the composition and dynamics of the microbiomes they inhabit remains largely unknown. Here I will present recent work combining novel eco-evolutionary theory with simple microcosm experiments to address this gap, exploring how the presence of a temperate phage drives the ability of an organism to invade existing microbiomes, and how plasmids encoding antimicrobial resistance shape microbiome stability.

Speaker summary: Kat Coyte is a Wellcome Trust Career Development Award Fellow / Senior Fellow at the University of Manchester in the Division of Evolution, Infection, and Genomic Sciences.