Over the past several decades,natural selection has caused populations of Staphylococcus aureus (an infectious wound bacterium)to evolve resistance to most antibiotics.If antibiotic use were stopped,what would you predict would happen to these S.aureus populations?

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Without the selective pressure of antibiotics, the frequency of nonresistant forms is likely to increase in these populations. This is because those forms that are not resistant will not be at a disadvantage in the absence of antibiotics and will be able to reproduce more successfully compared to resistant forms. However, it is possible that some resistant forms may still persist in the population due to other selective pressures or the presence of resistance genes on plasmids that can be exchanged between bacteria.

Over the Past Several Decades,natural Selection Has Caused Populations of Staphylococcus