Derivatives of plant phenolic compound affect the type III secretion system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa via a GacS-GacA two-component signal transduction system.

Antibiotic therapy is the most commonly used strategy to control pathogenic infections; however, it has contributed to the generation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. To circumvent this emerging problem, we are searching for compounds that target bacterial virulence factors rather than their viability. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic human pathogen, possesses a type III secretion system (T3SS) as one of the major virulence factors by which it secretes and translocates T3 effector proteins into human host cells.