Bacteria mechanosense surfaces to guide motility and biofilm formation

When initiating infection or colonizing their environment, bacteria experience mechanical forces on surfaces, in flow, or within elastic materials. Despite their ubiquity, how mechanics shape bacterial physiology and behavior is unknown. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a widespread opportunistic pathogen whose antibiotic resistance is rising at an alarming pace. P. aeruginosa is acutely adapted to life on surfaces: it uses surface-specific motility, injects pathogenic effectors into host cells upon contact, and forms biofilms on abiotic and biological materials.