A simple method to separate spores from amoebae of Dictyostelium discoideum has been devized and used to isolate spore germination mutants. A subclass of these mutants is temperature sensitive for germination and growth.

Germination of Bacillus anthracis spores occurs when nutrients such as amino acids or purine nucleosides stimulate specific germinant receptors located in the spore inner membrane. The gerP(ABCDEF) operon has been suggested to play a role in facilitating the interaction between germinants and their receptors in spores of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus. B. anthracis mutants containing del...

Germination is the process by which a dormant spore returns to its vegetative state when exposed to suitable conditions. We report on the real-time detection of kinetic germination and heterogeneity of single Bacillus thuringiensis spores in an aqueous solution by monitoring the calcium dipicolinate (CaDPA) biomarker with laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy (LTRS). A single B. thuringiensis spore...

Given the importance of spoilage caused by Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris for the fruit juice industry, the objective of this work was to study the germination and inactivation of A. acidoterrestris spores induced by moderate hydrostatic pressure. Hydrostatic pressure treatment can induce the germination and inactivation of A. acidoterrestris spores. At low pH, spore germination of up to 3.59...

Dormant Bacillus subtilis spores can be induced to germinate by nutrients, as well as by nonmetabolizable chemicals, such as a 1:1 chelate of Ca and dipicolinic acid (DPA). Nutrients bind receptors in the spore, and this binding triggers events in the spore core, including DPA excretion and rehydration, and also activates hydrolysis of the surrounding cortex through mechanisms that are largely ...

Heat resistance at 95 C, heat activation at 75 C, and germination response were determined for spores of 10 serotype strains of Clostridium perfringens type A, including five heat-resistant and five heat-sensitive strains. The D95-values ranged from 17.6 to 63.0 and from 1.3 to 2.8 for the heat-resistant and the heat-sensitive strains, respectively. The heat-activation values, the ratios betwee...

Because flavonoids from legumes induce transcription of nodulation genes in symbiotic rhizobial bacteria, it is reasonable to test whether these compounds alter the development of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi that infect those plants. Quercetin-3-O-galactoside, the dominant flavonoid released naturally from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) seeds, promoted spore germination of Glomus...

A considerable amount ofevidence suggests that metabolism ofgerminants or metabolism stimulated by them is involved in triggering bacterial-spore germination. On the assumption that such a metabolic trigger might lead to relatively small biochemical changes in the first few minutes of germination, sensitive analytical techniques were used to detect any changes in spore components during the L-a...

The opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus initiates invasive growth through a programmed germination process that progresses from dormant spore to swollen spore (SS) to germling (GL) and ultimately invasive hyphal growth. We find a lipoxygenase with considerable homology to human Alox5 and Alox15, LoxB, that impacts the transitions of programmed spore germination. Overexpression of...

Dormant Bacillus subtilis spores can be induced to germinate by nutrients, as well as by nonmetabolizable chemicals, such as a 1:1 chelate of Ca(2+) and dipicolinic acid (DPA). Nutrients bind receptors in the spore, and this binding triggers events in the spore core, including DPA excretion and rehydration, and also activates hydrolysis of the surrounding cortex through mechanisms that are larg...