Cellular self-digestion is an evolutionarily conserved process occurring in prokaryotic cells that enables survival under stressful conditions by recycling essential energy molecules. Self-digestion, which is triggered by extracellular stress conditions, such as nutrient depletion and overpopulation, induces degradation of intracellular components. This self-inflicted damage renders the bacterium less fit to produce building blocks and resume growth upon exposure to fresh nutrients. However, self-digestion may also provide temporary protection from antibiotics until the self-digestion-mediated damage is repaired. In fact, many persistence mechanisms identified to date may be directly or indirectly related to self-digestion, as these processes are also mediated by many degradative enzymes, including proteases and ribonucleases (RNases). In this review article, we will discuss the potential roles of self-digestion in bacterial persistence.
Keywords: RNA degradation; autophagy; bacterial persisters; intracellular degradation; lipid degradation; protein degradation; self-digestion; stationary-phase metabolism; viable but non-culturable cells.