Resuscitation-promoting factor (Rpf) terminates dormancy among diverse soil bacteria

Dormancy is a process whereby individuals enter a reversible state of reduced metabolic activity. In fluctuating environments, dormancy protects individuals from unfavorable conditions, enhancing fitness and buffering populations against extinction. However, waking up from dormancy is a critical yet risky decision. Some bacteria resuscitate stochastically, while others rely on environmental cues or signals from neighboring cells to transition back to active growth. Resuscitation-promoting factor (Rpf) is an exoenzyme that cleaves bonds in the peptidoglycan of bacterial cell walls, facilitating dormancy termination and enabling regrowth. Although this family of proteins has been well characterized in model organisms and clinically relevant strains, our study characterizes Rpf from a soil bacterium and examines its effects on resuscitation across a diverse collection of bacteria, linking it to functional traits that may influence dormancy dynamics in both natural and managed ecosystems.