{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T13:43:31Z","timestamp":1793108611330,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1793059200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1793059200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"funder":[{"name":"ENAC Flagship Grant"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001711","name":"Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur F\u00f6rderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IC00I0-228106"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IC00I0-228106"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001711","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["mSphere"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Transmission of respiratory pathogens depends on their ability to remain viable in drying respiratory droplets, yet the physicochemical drivers of bacterial inactivation during droplet evaporation remain poorly quantified. This study combines controlled droplet experiments with physicochemical modeling to investigate how osmotic pressure dynamics influence bacterial survival. Using\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Escherichia coli<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Staphylococcus epidermidis<\/jats:italic>\n                      as gram-negative and gram-positive surrogates, respectively, we measured viability loss in artificial saliva droplets dried at multiple relative humidities, and reconstructed the time-resolved osmotic pressure using the respiratory aerosol model. Both organisms remained stable while droplets were liquid and osmotic pressure was low but lost viability as decreasing water activity during drying produced rapid increases in osmotic pressure. For droplets that effloresced, these changes were most pronounced around efflorescence. The extent of inactivation scaled log-linearly with the rate of osmotic pressure change:\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n                      decayed faster than\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">S. epidermidis<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and relationships derived in artificial saliva predicted survival in independent phosphate-buffered saline experiments. A lower relative humidity produced a more rapid increase in osmotic pressure and greater inactivation. These results identify the rate of osmotic pressure change during respiratory droplet drying as a quantitative predictor of bacterial survival across different solution matrices and drying conditions.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>The risk of infection by respiratory pathogens depends on how long microorganisms remain viable in respiratory particles after exhalation, yet the physical mechanisms controlling bacterial survival during droplet drying are not well defined. Evaporation of respiratory droplets concentrates salts and can impose sudden and extreme osmotic stress on microbes, but this process has been difficult to quantify because osmotic pressure cannot be measured directly inside microscopic droplets. Integration of droplet experiments with a physicochemical aerosol model shows that bacterial inactivation is governed primarily by the rate of osmotic pressure increase during droplet drying rather than by static values of humidity or solute concentration alone. This mechanism explains why rapid drying produces strong inactivation.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/msphere.00594-26","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T13:01:00Z","timestamp":1791378060000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Rate of osmotic pressure change in drying saliva microdroplets drives inactivation of model respiratory bacteria"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3272-0139","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Taylor","family":"Medina","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Environmental Virology, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, \u00c9cole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne","place":["Lausanne, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Beiping","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05bzz1e33","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Z\u00fcrich","place":["Z\u00fcrich, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Peter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05bzz1e33","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Z\u00fcrich","place":["Z\u00fcrich, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Htet Kyi","family":"Wynn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Environmental Virology, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, \u00c9cole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne","place":["Lausanne, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0395-6561","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Tamar","family":"Kohn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Environmental Virology, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, \u00c9cole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne","place":["Lausanne, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"235","reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","unstructured":"World Health Organization. 2024. Global technical consultation report on proposed terminology for pathogens that transmit through the air. World Health Organization Geneva Switzerland."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0243505"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.est.4c04734"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s40201-021-00750-6"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1522860113"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosenv.2022.119066"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2672.1997.tb03303.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms25063310"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/qrd.2022.3"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevE.62.1034"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms11030647"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0035205"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/MMBR.63.1.230-262.1999"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.diagmicrobio.2019.02.009"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1574-6976.2002.tb00598.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_17_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00253-006-0492-5"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_18_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1063\/5.0196219"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_19_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.est.9b04959"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_20_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-023-49005-4"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_21_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/atmos15040511"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_22_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5194\/amt-11-49-2018"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_23_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s002030050649"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_24_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/spectrum.03347-22"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_25_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00203-010-0653-x"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_26_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/mBio.00092-11"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_27_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens11040463"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_28_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2020.590041"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_29_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.est.2c05777"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_30_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1098\/rsif.2023.0062"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_31_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.est.5c12672"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_32_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/jvi.00409-24"}],"container-title":["mSphere"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1128\/msphere.00594-26","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1128\/msphere.00594-26","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T13:05:10Z","timestamp":1793106310000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/10.1128\/msphere.00594-26"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Michael David Leslie","family":"Johnson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]]},"references-count":31,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1128\/msphere.00594-26"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/msphere.00594-26","relation":{},"ISSN":["2379-5042"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2379-5042","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2026-08-18","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-09-12","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-10-07","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"e00594-26"}}