Dormant bacterial spores do not take up and bind nucleic acid dyes in the spore core but readily take up such dyes when they are fully germinated. We present a methodology that combines fluorescence microscopy, phase contrast microscopy, and laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy to monitor the kinetics of uptake of the nucleic acid dye SYTO 16 during germination of individual Bacillus cereus and Ba...

BACKGROUND Germination is the irreversible loss of spore-specific properties prior to outgrowth. Because germinating spores become more susceptible to killing by stressors, induction of germination has been proposed as a spore control strategy. However, this strategy is limited by superdormant spores that remain unaffected by germinants. Harsh chemicals and heat activation are effective for sti...

A germination-specific amidase of bacilli is a major spore-lytic enzyme that is synthesized with a putative signal sequence and hydrolyses spore cortex in situ. The sleB gene encoding this amidase in Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus was expressed in the forespore compartment of sporulating cells under the control of sigmaG, as shown by Northern blot and primer extension analyses. The fores...

Effect of constant and diurnally fluctuating temperatures on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi [Glomus etunicatum (GE) and Gigaspora margarita (GM)] infection and the promotion of infected seedling growth through asparagus-AM fungus symbiosis were investigated. 1. At constant temperatures, spore germination rate became maximum at 25 •Ž in GE, and at 25•Ž and 30•Ž in GM. Hyphal growth was enhanc...

During germination of spores of Bacillus species the degradation of the spore's pool of small, acid-soluble proteins (SASP) is initiated by a protease termed GPR, the product of the gpr gene. Bacillus megaterium and B. subtilis mutants with an inactivated gpr gene grew, sporulated, and triggered spore germination as did gpr+ strains. However, SASP degradation was very slow during germination of...