Resistant Properties of Azotobacter Cysts Induced in Response to Mineral Deficiencies.

Layne, Joseph S. (University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Jackson), and Emmett J. Johnson. Resistant properties of Azotobacter cysts induced in response to mineral deficiencies. J. Bacteriol. 88:956-959. 1964.-Cysts produced in response to mineral deficiencies, and apparently lacking the characteristic exine and intine, possess the same degree of resistance to heat, mechanical disruption, desiccation, the action of lysozyme, and the combined action of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and lysozyme as do butanol-induced cysts. Slight differences in the behavior of the two varieties of cysts toward EDTA were observed. Since no significant differences seem to exist in resistant properties between cysts induced in response to mineral deficiencies and n-butanol-induced cysts, it would seem that the current concepts attributing the resistant properties of the Azotobacter cyst to the exine and intine require modification.