Appearance of sulfhydryl groups during growth of Bacillus globigii.

The sensitivity of growing bacterial cells to destructive agents or influences is many times that of bacterial spores (Curran, 1952). Some of these agents act on sulfhydryl groups of proteins; on the other hand, sulfhydryl groups belong to the most sensitive groups in proteins and are vital for the function of many enzymes (Barron, 1951). The question may be raised whether the degree of resistance during the various phases of bacterial development could not be correlated with the appearance of sulfhydryl groups in the bacterial proteins. Experiments which bear on this hypothesis are the subject of the present paper.