The Photobiology of Microbial Pathogenesis
Alexander Idnurm, Sean Crosson
PLoS Pathog 5(11): e1000470. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1000470
Light is an abundant signal that many organisms use to assess the status of their environment. Species from all kingdoms have evolved the capacity to sense and respond to wavelengths across the visible spectrum. Light has long been linked to disease (Figure 1); however, the mechanisms behind many of these observations are not well understood. Recently, a direct link has been established between specific protein photosensors and the ability to cause disease in both pathogenic bacteria and fungi [1]–[3]; thus, certain pathogens require these photosensors for full virulence. A role for photoperception is likely to emerge as a common theme in microbial pathogenesis.[…]
