A Phage-Based Approach to Identify Antivirulence Inhibitors of Bacterial Type IV Pili.

The increasing threat of antibiotic resistance underscores the urgent need for innovative strategies to combat infectious diseases, including the development of antivirulants. Microbial pathogens rely on their virulence factors to initiate and sustain infections. Antivirulants are small molecules designed to target virulence factors, thereby attenuating the virulence of infectious microbes.

Surface hydrophilicity promotes bacterial twitching motility.

Unlabelled: Twitching motility is a form of bacterial surface translocation powered by the type IV pilus (T4P). It is frequently analyzed by interstitial colony expansion between agar and the polystyrene surfaces of petri dishes. In such assays, the twitching motility of was observed with MacConkey but not Luria-Bertani (LB) agar media.