Physiological Studies on Spore Germination, with Special Reference to Clostridium botulinum: IV. Inhibition of Germination by Unsaturated C(18) Fatty Acids.

نویسندگان

  • J W Foster
  • E S Wynne
چکیده

Unsaturated C18 fatty acids, particularly oleic, are known to inhibit the growth of a great variety of bacteria (see Humfeld, 1947, for literature summary). In contrast, virtually nothing is known of the effect of such agents on the germination of spores preparatory to vegetative development. Castor soap has been reported inhibitory to Clostridium botulinum (Gibbs et al., 1926), but it is not clear whether spores or vegetative cells or both were employed as inoculum. In a previous paper (Wynne and Foster, 1948a) we observed that incorporation of 0.1 per cent soluble starch in the spore-counting medium resulted in substantially higher counts on a pasteurized suspension of C. botulinum spores than nonstarch control media, and furthermore that the characteristic dormancy of botulinum spores was eliminated under these conditions. The starch evidently neutralizes some factor(s) inimical to germination of the spores. Ley and Mueller (1946) studied a similar situation in which a factor present in ordinary agar was inhibitory to gonococci and also was neutralized by small amounts of starch. The inhibitory material in agar had properties similar to oleic and stearic acids. We have found that small amounts of oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids inhibit the germination of Clostridium spores, that starch neutralizes this action, and that the presence of these acids in complex natural materials may account for the depressed germination rate and counts in the absence of starch.

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عنوان ژورنال:
  • Journal of bacteriology

دوره 55 4  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 1948