Bacterial Phage Resistance Emergence in Complex Landscapes of Stress

We have begun studies of the emergence of loss of sensitivity of {\em E. coli} to the phages T4 and T4r using a microfabricated stress landscape where phage titers are distributed across an array of localized metapopulations. Sensitivity emerges from local biofilm-like pockets of bacteria and and spreads as a form of colony hopping across the landscape. Sequencing on the insensitive bacterial colonies tests for both genetic mutations and additions of viral genome fragments in the CRISPR intervening spacer regions.