Stochastic gene expression drives state switching and phenotypic heterogeneity in RNA repair

Stochastic Rtc-regulation in Escherichia coli produces bimodality in translational capacity and state switching between resistant and susceptible phenotypes.

• Why it matters: Antibiotic response heterogeneity can determine survival, yet how genetically identical cells dynamically shift susceptibility remains unclear.
• What they did: The authors built a stochastic model of Rtc-mediated RNA repair, then classified single-cell trajectories to infer drivers of switching between resistant and susceptible states.
• The result: Stochastic expression of the rtc regulator predicts entry into a resistant state, while dilution predicts return to a susceptible state, implying RNA-repair heterogeneity arises from switching.

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