Light Modulates Important Pathogenic Determinants and Virulence in ESKAPE Pathogens Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus
Marisel R. Tuttobene, J. F. Pérez, E. S. Pavesi, Bárbara Pérez Mora, Daiana Biancotti, Pamela Cribb, Matías Altilio, Gabriela Müller, Hugo Gramajo, G. Tamagno, María Soledad Ramirez, Lautaro Diacovich, María Alejandra Mussi
Abstract
, are responsible for serious intrahospital and community infections in humans. Therapeutics is often complicated due to resistance to multiple antibiotics, rendering them ineffective. In this work, we show that these pathogens sense natural light and respond to it by modulating aspects related to their ability to cause disease; in the presence of light, some of them become more aggressive, while others show an opposite response. Overall, we provide new understanding on the behavior of these pathogens, which could contribute to the control of infections caused by them. Since the response is distributed in diverse pathogens, this notion could prove a general concept.