Interfering with the response of bacterial pathogens to host substances: An unexplored strategy to control bacterial...

Bacterial infections represent a significant challenge in aquaculture, and the widespread use of antibiotics has accelerated the development of resistance, diminishing their efficacy and posing serious global public health concerns. Antivirulence therapy, disarming pathogens rather than killing them or inhibiting their growth, offers a promising alternative approach as it exerts reduced selective pressure on pathogens, thereby limiting the spread of resistance. Targeting the response of pathogens to host substances, molecules typically produced by host organisms, is an unexplored strategy for the development of novel disease control agents for aquaculture. Bacterial aquaculture pathogens have been shown to respond to host substances such as catecholamines, mucin, and bile acids and salts, leading to increased production of virulence factors (molecules or cell structures that enable pathogens to cause disease), and increased virulence to aquatic animals. This paper provides an overview of the impact of these host substances on the virulence of bacterial aquaculture pathogens and of currently known methods to interfere with this in order to control disease.