The influence of temperature and humidity on spore formation and germination in Bacillus anthracis.

There is a striking contrast between the persistence of the spores of Bacillus anthracis in the soils of subtropical countries and the poor survival of the organism in soil of Great Britain. This is in spite of the constant re-infection of the soil here through the extensive reliance of British agriculture on dried bone fertilizers. An investigation has been undertaken into the effect of temperature and humidity on spore formation and germination in B. anthracis to see if these two physical factors could account for the difference in persistance of the organism and the results are presented in this communication.