{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T13:23:44Z","timestamp":1788269024478,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000057","name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["GM119426"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GM119426"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000057","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["AI185860"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AI185860"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000062","name":"National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DK136047"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DK136047"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000062","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Microbiol Spectr"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Disinfectants play a crucial role in infection prevention and control, acting as our first line of defense against pathogenic bacteria. Despite biofilms being a major contributor to recalcitrant infections, the development of novel disinfectants often focuses on bacterial growth inhibition. To address this gap, we compared the ability of a structurally diverse set of quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) and quaternary phosphonium compounds (QPCs) to eradicate biofilms produced by high-priority pathogens:\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Staphylococcus aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      (MSSA and MRSA),\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Acinetobacter baumannii<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Pseudomonas aeruginosa<\/jats:italic>\n                      . Our findings reveal comparable activity between structurally analogous QACs and QPCs against the panel of five bacteria. Notably, three compounds exhibited improved efficacy against methicillin-susceptible\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">S. aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      (MSSA), community- and hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">S. aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      (MRSA), and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. baumannii<\/jats:italic>\n                      (4 to 63 \u00b5M) compared with commercially available, benzethonium chloride (BEC), and didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC). Taken together, these results illustrate the need to understand the efficacy of commercial disinfectants in their ability to eradicate biofilms produced by high-priority pathogens to ensure that proper disinfection protocols are designed to prevent the spread of biofilms from high-contact surfaces to patients.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>\n                        Bacterial biofilms pose a significant threat to human health as many antibiotics are ineffective against this phenotype, rendering biofilm infections difficult to treat. Disinfectants play a critical role in infection prevention; however, their efficacy in eradicating biofilms is often underexplored. In this study, we evaluated a panel of structurally analogous quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) and quaternary phosphonium compounds (QPCs) for their ability to eradicate biofilms formed by high-priority pathogens. We found that several QACs and QPCs were more effective than commercially available disinfectants, benzethonium chloride (BEC), and didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) against methicillin-susceptible\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">S. aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                        (MSSA), methicillin-resistant\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">S. aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                        (MRSA), and\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. baumannii<\/jats:italic>\n                        . These findings highlight the importance of evaluating the ability of disinfectants to eradicate biofilms to ensure proper disinfection strategies are designed to prevent biofilm-associated infections.\n                      <\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/spectrum.00556-26","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T13:03:10Z","timestamp":1785848590000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Phosphonium-based disinfectants are as effective as best-in-class quaternary ammonium compounds in the eradication of established biofilms in antibiotic-resistant bacteria"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-2721-284X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elise L.","family":"Bezold","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03czfpz43","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Chemistry, Emory University","place":["Atlanta, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caroline M.","family":"Casey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02g7kd627","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Villanova University","place":["Villanova, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Diana","family":"McDonough","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02g7kd627","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Villanova University","place":["Villanova, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4263-9833","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kevin P. 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