Fresh produce contaminated with human pathogens raises vital and ecological questions about bacterial survival strategies. Such occurrence was basil harboring Salmonella enterica serovar Senftenberg that caused an outbreak in 2007. This host was unanticipated due to its production of antibacterial substances, including linalool. We show that linalool perforates bacterial membranes, resulting in increased permeability and leakage of vital molecules. It also inhibits cell motility and causes bacterial aggregation. Linalool-resistance was investigated by identification and characterization of S. Senftenberg mutants that perform altered resistance. Resistance mechanisms include selective permeability, regulated efflux/influx and chemotaxis-controlled motility. Moreover, survival of S. Senftenberg on basil leaves was substantially affected by McpL, a putative chemotaxis-related receptor, and RfaG, a component of the lipopolysaccharide production pathway, both have a role in resistance to linalool. Results reveal that adaptation to linalool occurs in nature by concurrent mechanisms. This adaption raises concerns about pathogens adaptation to new hosts including antimicrobial-compound-producing plants.

A clinical isolate of Salmonella enterica serovar Senftenberg, isolated from an outbreak linked to the herb Ocimum basilicum L. (basil), has been shown to be resistant to basil oil and to the terpene alcohol linalool. To better understand how human pathogens might develop resistance to linalool and to investigate the association of this resistance with resistance to different antimicrobial agents, selective pressure was applied to the wild-type strain by sequential exposure to increasing concentrations of linalool. The results demonstrated that S. Senftenberg adapted to linalool with a MIC increment of at least 8-fold, which also resulted in better resistance to basil oil and better survival on harvested basil leaves. Adaptation to linalool was shown to confer cross protection against the antibiotics trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, piperacillin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline, increasing their MICs by 2-to 32-fold. The improved resistance was shown to correlate with multiple phenotypes that included changes in membrane fatty acid composition, induced efflux, reduced influx, controlled motility, and the ability to form larger aggregates in the presence of linalool. The adaptation to linalool obtained in vitro did not affect survival on the basil phyllosphere in planta and even diminished survival in soil, suggesting that development of extreme resistance to linalool may be accompanied by a loss of fitness. Altogether, this report notes the concern regarding the ability of human pathogens to develop resistance to commercial essential oils, a resistance that is also associated with cross-resistance to antibiotics and may endanger public health.

DNA nanotechnology is leading the field of in vitro molecular-scale device engineering 1-3 , accumulating to a dazzling array of applications from zeolite-like catalysts to bio-imaging 1,4,5 . However, while DNA nanostructures' function is robust under in vitro settings, their implementation in real-world conditions requires overcoming their rapid degradation and subsequent loss of function 6,7 . Viruses are incredibly sophisticated supramolecular assemblies, able to protect their nucleic acid content in the relatively inhospitable biological environment 8 . Inspired by this natural ability, we engineered both in vitro and in vivo technologies, enabling the

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