Matters Microbial #112: Bacterial Size, Stress, and Antibiotic Resistance October 17, 2025

Today Dr. Petra Levin, the George and Irene Freiberg Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss her work with bacterial cell size, environmental stress on bacteria, and antibiotic resistance.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Petra Levin

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Links for this episode

• An overview of the periplasm, found in Gram negative bacteria.
• An overview of beta-lactam antibiotics.
• The field of quantitative microbiology.
• An overview of B. subtilis. 
• An overview of E. coli. 
• An overview of Klebsiella. 
• The biography of Barbara McClintock, “A Feeling for the Organism.”
• A video explanation of the lac operon of E. coli.
• The LTEE program (Long Term Evolution Experiment) founded by Dr. Rich Lenski.
• The nomenclature of monoderm and diderm bacteria.
• A video explanation of peptidoglycan in bacteria.
• Penicillin binding proteins (PBP) and antibiotic resistance.
• A video about cell division in E. coli.
• A famous article coauthored by Dr. Elio Schaechter that describes cell growth and cell size in bacteria.
• A related article by Dr. Levin and colleagues.
• An overview of ESKAPE bacteria.
• An article from Dr. Levin’s research group describing the relationship between pH and antibiotic resistance.
• An article about persister cells and their relevance to antibiotic resistance.
• Dr. Levin’s faculty website.
• Dr. Levin’s very interesting laboratory website.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

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