E. coli slow recovery from growth arrest

Bacteria shut down protein synthesis under stress, but how they resume growth remains unclear. We used an E. coli strain lacking a ribosome maturation factor RimM, which exhibits prolonged growth arrest, as a model to study bacterial recovery. Loss of this factor delays 30S ribosomal subunit assembly more than other maturation factors such as RbfA. Mass spectrometry and cryo-EM analyses revealed disrupted assembly of the 30S head domain, increased binding of initiation factors (IF1 and IF3), and recruitment of a silencing factor RsfS to the 50S subunit, collectively preventing premature 70S formation.