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 temper...

Two new loci found in one strain of Neurospora crassa (P2604) collected in Malaya are related to the meiotic drive system Spore killer Sk-2. Sk-2 was found in Neurospora intermedia and introgressed into N. crassa. P2604 showed high resistance to killing when crossed to Sk-2. This resistance was found to be linked to, but not allelic to, resistance locus r(Sk-2) on LGIIIL. Analysis showed that t...

Concomitant morphological and molecular analyses have led to major breakthroughs in the taxonomic organization of the phylum Glomeromycota. Fungi in this phylum are known to form arbuscular mycorrhiza, and so far three classes, five orders, 14 families and 29 genera have been described. Sensulato, spore formation in 10 of the arbuscular mycorrhiza-forming genera is exclusively glomoid, one is g...

The terminal differentiation of Dictyostelium discoideum cells plated as monolayers with cyclic AMP is dramatically affected by developmental buffer conditions. High pH and addition of weak bases induces spore differentiation while low pH and weak acids favour stalk cell formation. In order to analyse the timing and nature of this regulation we have raised and characterized an anti-stalk serum ...

Amoebae of sporogenous mutants of Dictyostelium discoideum can differentiate into stalk cells and spores in the absence of normal morphogenesis when spread on agar containing cyclic-AMP. The efficiency of differentiation is improved when the amoebae are incubated as submerged monolayers in plastic petri dishes. Under these conditions spore formation is density dependent and hence requires some ...

Some years ago it was found that Bacillus subtilis sporulated more profusely in Bacto-peptone broth when a small quantity of activated charcoal was added to the medium. Further studies revealed that although the charcoal was removed from the medium prior to inoculation, the percentage of cells sporulating during short incubation periods was still appreciably greater than in untreated Bacto-pept...

Several components of the glucose induction pathway, namely the Snf3p glucose sensor and the Rgt1p and Mth1p transcription factors, were shown to be involved in inhibition of sporulation by glucose. The glucose sensors had only a minor role in regulating transcript levels of the two key regulators of meiotic initiation, the Ime1p transcription factor and the Ime2p kinase, but a major role in re...

Understanding the maintenance of cooperation requires an understanding of the nature of cheaters and the strategies used to mitigate their effects. However, it is often difficult to determine how cheating or differential social success has arisen. For example, cheaters may employ different strategies (e.g., fixed and facultative), whereas other causes of unequal fitness in social situations can...

Previous work by this laboratory (Roth et al., 1955) has established that a definite aeration requirement existed for spore formation of Bacilus anthracis and Bacillu globigii. This aeration requirement was shown to be different at various stages of growth. In the case of spore germination of the aerobic organisms tested, the present work indicates that the necessity for aerobic conditions is c...

The composition and application of a single, chemically defined medium or growth and sporulation of Bacillus subtilis is described. At 37 degrees C cells grew with a doubling time of about 40 min; cultures attained near-maximal spore formation (70 to 80% by 12 h after the end of exponential growth and produced 1 X 10(9) to 2 X 10(9) heat-resistant free spores at 24 h. Dipicolinic acid productio...