SKM 2023 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 16: Systems Biophysics
BP 16.1: Hauptvortrag
Mittwoch, 29. März 2023, 11:15–11:45, BAR 0106
Systems biophysics of bacterial response to cell wall-targeting antibiotics — Rebecca Brouwers1, Sharareh Tavaddod1, Leonardo Mancini2, Jacob Biboy3, Elizabeth Tatham1, Pietro Cicuta2, Waldemar Vollmer3, and •Rosalind Allen1,4 — 1School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK — 2Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK — 3Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, UK — 4Theoretical Microbial Ecology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Jena, Germany
Antibiotics are central in modern medicine, yet bacterial infections are increasingly becoming resistant to antibiotics. To use antibiotics more effectively, we need to understand better how they work. We have used a combination of microbiological and biophysical experiments, and theoretical modelling, to probe how the antibiotic mecillinam, which targets bacterial cell wall synthesis, kills the bacterium Escherichia coli. Comparing killing dynamics under conditions of rich and poor nutrients we conclude that the balance between the rates of creation of cell surface area and volume plays a crucial role in the fate of cells when exposed to this antibiotic.