Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Villalba, M.I.
• Venturelli, L.
• Arnal, L.
• Masson, C.
• Dietler, G.
• Vela, M.E.
• Yantorno, O.
• Kasas, S.

Titel

Effect of antibiotics on mechanical properties of Bordetella pertussis examined by atomic force microscopy

Ist Teil von

• Micron (Oxford, England : 1993), 2022-04, Vol.155, p.103229-103229, Article 103229

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• In recent years, the coevolution of microorganisms with current antibiotics has increased the mechanisms of bacterial resistance, generating a major health problem worldwide. Bordetella pertussis is a bacterium that causes whooping cough and is capable of adopting different states of virulence, i.e. virulent or avirulent states. In this study, we explored the nanomechanical properties of both virulent and avirulent B. pertussis as exposed to various antibiotics. The nanomechanical studies highlighted that only virulent B. pertussis cells undergo a decrease in their cell elastic modulus and height upon antimicrobial exposure, whereas their avirulent counterparts remain unaffected. This study also permitted to highlight different mechanical properties of individual cells as compared to those growing in close contact with other individuals. In addition, we analyzed the presence on the bacterial cell wall of Filamentous hemagglutinin adhesin (FHA), the major attachment factor produced by virulent Bordetella spp., under different virulence conditions by Force Spectroscopy. •A suggestive study of virulence and antibiotic effects can be carried out using AFM.•AFM provides important nanomechanical information of B. pertussis surface.•AFM offers stronger support for research of antibiotic effects over B. pertussis.•Force Spectroscopy allows study surface adhesin associated with bacterial virulence.