The stimulation of germination and respiration of Bacillus megaterium spores by mangasese, L-alanine and heat.

Germination of spores of the genus Bacillus can be stimulated by heat, L-alanine, or manganese. The reversal of L-alanine stimulation by D-alanine (Hills, 1950) appears to be specific and, in the present study, affords a tool for the exploration of the mechanisms and interrelations among heat, manganese and L-alanine stimulations. The heat stimulation of bacterial spore germination has long been known (Tarr, 1933; Evans and Curran, 1943; Levinson and Sevag, 1953). L-Alanine stimulates the germination of unheated Bacillus anthracis spores (Hills, 1949); of heated and unheated B. megaterium spores (Levinson and Sevag, 1953); and of heated spores of B. terminalis, B. globigii, B. polymyxa, B. subtilis, and B. megaterium (Church et al., 1954). Fixation of L-alanine by spores is not simple adsorption (Harrell and Halvorson, 1954). Levinson and Sevag (1953) have suggested that manganese could replace heat shock as a germination stimulant for B. megaterium spores. These authors (1954) have proposed that manganese activates spore proteolytic enzymes, resulting in the release of amino acids, including L-alanine, which stimulate germination.