Resuscitation promoting factors in bacterial population dynamics during TB infection

Abstract

Mycobacterium tuberculosis has five resuscitation promoting factors (Rpfs) which have been implicated in virulence and resuscitation from dormancy, possibly through cleavage of the β-1,4 glycosidic bond in peptidoglycan. Several possibilities exist for the role of these factors in influencing bacterial population dynamics, during active and latent tuberculosis infection, by the stimulation of bacterial growth through re-modeling of peptidoglycan. As such, the Rpfs may represent an interesting new class of cell wall targets for tuberculosis drug discovery.