Bacterial population dynamics in presence of antibiotics

Understanding the dynamics of bacterial populations under antibiotic pressure is crucial for the design of antibiotic treatment plans that most quickly eradicate infections and minimise the emergence of antibiotic resistance. In this project we have been studying bacterial cell wall targeting antibiotics. These antibiotics are particularly interesting as they are less toxic than other antibiotics to humans and can completely kill bacteria via cell lysis.

In this seminar I will discuss the population dynamics in the presence of cell wall antibiotics that we have observed experimentally, and how these are guiding us in the creation of a mathematical model. This mathematical model uses the observed morphological changes to determine if a population will survive under different environmental conditions e.g. different antibiotic pressure, different nutrient availability. The aim is to develop a more mechanistic and quantitative understanding of how these antibiotics impact a bacterial population.