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We report a previously unrecognized mechanism for the prolonged action of biocidal agents, which we denote as the zombies effect: biocidally-killed bacteria are capable of killing living bacteria. The concept is demonstrated by first killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 with silver nitrate and then challenging, with the dead bacteria, a viable culture of the same bacterium: Efficient antibacterial activity of the killed bacteria is observed. A mechanism is suggested in terms of the action of the dead bacteria as a reservoir of silver, which, due to Le-Chatelier's principle, is re-targeted to the living bacteria. Langmuirian behavior, as well as deviations from it, support the proposed mechanism.
Ben‐Knaz et al. (Thu,) studied this question.