Targeted disruption of phage liquid crystalline droplets abolishes antibiotic tolerance of bacterial biofilms.

ABSTRACT: All bacterial biofilms contain an extracellular matrix rich in filamentous molecules 1 that self-associate ^2-4, conferring emergent properties to bacteria 5, including antibiotic tolerance 6. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a human pathogen that forms biofilms in diverse infectious settings ^7,8, where the upregulation of a filamentous bacteriophage Pf4, has been shown to be a key virulence factor that protects bacteria from antibiotics ^9,10. Here, we modelled biophysical characteristics of biofilm-linked liquid crystalline droplets formed by Pf4, which predicted that sub-stoichiometric phage binders had the ability to disrupt liquid crystals by changing the surface properties of the phage. We tested this prediction by developing nanobodies targeting the ou

SUBMITTER: Tarafder AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12324354 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature