How light suppresses virulence in an antibiotic-resistant pathogen

Originally written by Matt Wood, University of Chicago, on January 20, 2026  and published in phys.org

edited by Stephanie Baum, reviewed by Robert Egan

Light is a universal stimulus that influences all living things. Cycles of light and dark help set the biological clocks for organisms ranging from single-celled bacteria to human beings. Some bacteria use photosynthesis to convert sunlight into energy just like plants, but other bacteria sense light for less well-known functions.

 

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an antibiotic-resistant bacterium that is known to cause difficult to treat infections in hospitalized patients. Credit: Centers for Disease Control

In 2019, Sampriti Mukherjee, Ph.D., and her team at the University of Chicago discovered that far-red light, part of the light spectrum near the infrared range, prevents the formation of biofilms by the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Biofilms form when communities of bacteria cluster together and attach to surfaces like medical devices or tissues. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an antibiotic-resistant bacterium, normally found in the soil and water, that is known to cause difficult to treat infections in hospitalized patients, especially those with weakened immune systems, lung diseases, or large wounds like burns. Figuring out how to prevent this pathogen from forming biofilms could help treat these dangerous infections.

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