Evolutionary adaptations of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> biofilms to ciprofloxacin and antioxidant co-treatment in synthetic sputum medium

Fighting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest health challenges of our time. To find new ways to stop it, we need to better understand how resistance develops. Our study suggests that antioxidants may help slow down the process that allows bacteria to become resistant. We also show that resistance develops more quickly, and in a different way, when bacteria grow in conditions that resemble the human body rather than in standard laboratory media. In particular, the synthetic sputum medium promoted the formation of aggregated biofilms-sticky communities of cells that often occur in chronic and hard-to-treat infections.