Home▸Molecular Biology▸Conjugative Plasmid Spread: Donor–Recipient–Transconjugant Dynamics

Conjugative Plasmid Spread: Donor–Recipient–Transconjugant Dynamics

Individual-based simulation of a mixed bacterial population where a conjugative plasmid spreads by cell-to-cell contact: tune conjugation rate, fitness cost and segregational loss and watch donor, recipient and transconjugant counts evolve live.

Molecular Biology3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

Horizontal gene transfer by bacterial conjugation is how a plasmid — carrying, for example, an antibiotic-resistance gene — jumps from cell to cell without waiting for reproduction. This simulator renders a mixed culture of donor, recipient and transconjugant bacteria drifting through a 3D volume, converting recipients to transconjugants on physical contact with a probability set by the conjugation rate, while a fitness cost slows plasmid carriers' growth and a segregational-loss rate lets transconjugants spontaneously cure. The result reproduces the Levin–Stewart–Rice mass-action model of conjugative plasmid transmission, letting you find the balance of parameters under which a plasmid invades a population versus dies out.

⚙ Under the hood

Watch a conjugative plasmid spread through a mixed bacterial population in 3D: donors and transconjugants convert nearby recipients on contact, while fitness cost and segregational loss push back, reproducing the classic Levin-Stewart-Rice mass-action model.

conjugationplasmidhorizontal gene transfermicrobiologypopulation dynamicsantibiotic resistance

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install