Date/Time
Date(s) - 03/04/2025
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Speaker: Tyler Meadows (Queen’s University)
Research area: Microbial ecology, mathematical epidemiology

Location: Hamilton Hall, Room 410 & Zoom

Title: Mathematical models for the growth of bacterial persister cells

Abstract: Within some colonies of bacteria, bacterial persisters exist as a subpopulation that is seemingly immune to antibiotics. However, these cells are not genetically distinct from the rest of the population. Although the mechanism through which they avoid being killed by antibiotics is reasonably well understood, the method through which these persister cells arise is still debated. Their existence is typically viewed as a genetically encoded bet-hedging strategy in response to fluctuating environments. We will investigate a model that takes an alternative approach, viewing the persister trait through the lens of epigenetic inheritance.