Antibiotics typically induce major physiological changes in bacteria. However, their effect on nutrient consumption remains unclear. Here we found that Escherichia coli communities can sustain normal levels of glucose consumption under a broad range of antibiotics. The community-living resulted in a low membrane potential in the bacteria, allowing slow antibiotic accumulation on treatment and better adaptation. Through multi-omics analysis, we identified a prevalent adaptive response characterized by the upregulation of lipid synthesis, which substantially contributes to sustained glucose consumption. The consumption was maintained by the periphery region of the community, thereby restricting glucose penetration into the community interior. The resulting spatial heterogeneity in glucose availability protected the interior from antibiotic accumulation in a membrane potential-dependent manner, ensuring rapid recovery of the community postantibiotic treatment. Our findings unveiled a community-level antibiotic response through spatial regulation of metabolism and suggested new strategies for antibiotic therapies.

抗生素通常会引起细菌的重大生理变化。然而，它们对营养消耗的影响仍不清楚。在这里，我们发现大肠杆菌群落可以在多种抗生素的作用下维持正常的葡萄糖消耗水平。社区生活导致细菌的膜电位较低，从而使抗生素在治疗过程中缓慢积累并获得更好的适应。通过多组学分析，我们发现了一种普遍的适应性反应，其特征是脂质合成上调，这在很大程度上有助于持续的葡萄糖消耗。消耗由社区外围区域维持，从而限制了葡萄糖渗透到社区内部。由此产生的葡萄糖可用性的空间异质性以膜电位依赖性方式保护内部免受抗生素积累，确保抗生素治疗后群落的快速恢复。我们的研究结果揭示了通过新陈代谢的空间调节产生的社区水平抗生素反应，并提出了抗生素治疗的新策略。