The Dynamic Transition of Persistence toward the Viable but Nonculturable State during Stationary Phase Is Driven by Protein Aggregation

Abstract

While persistence and the viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state are currently investigated in isolation, our results strongly indicate that these phenotypes represent different stages of the same dormancy program and that they should therefore be studied within the same conceptual framework. Moreover, we show here for the first time that the dynamics of protein aggregation perfectly match the onset and further development of bacterial dormancy and that different dormant phenotypes are linked to different stages of protein aggregation.