Superdormant spores of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis germinated just as well as dormant spores with pressures of 150 or 500 MPa and with or without heat activation. Superdormant B. subtilis spores also germinated as well as dormant spores with peptidoglycan fragments or bryostatin, a Ser/Thr protein kinase activator.

Dormant spores of Bacillus species lack ATP and NADH and contain notable levels of only a few other common low mol wt energy reserves, including 3-phosphoglyceric acid (3PGA), and glutamic acid. Recently, Bacillus subtilis spores were reported to contain ~ 30 μmol of L-malate/g dry wt, which also could serve as an energy reserve. In present work, L-malate levels were determined in the core of d...

During the last 10 years the subject of bacterial spore germination has been intensively investigated. In most of these studies it has been found that bacterial spores are capable of germination under conditions which do not permit the germinated form to survive (Schmidt, 1955; Stedman, 1956). Hills (1949) pointed out that a distinction must be drawn between the requirements for germination and...

Background and Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects of various heat shock conditions and fast freezing and subsequent thawing on the viability and recovery of Bacillus coagulans and Bacillus subtilis as probiotic sporeformers, and also to compare spore plate and microscopic counts. Materials and Methods: After preparing the final suspensions of B. coagulans...

Bacterial spores spontaneously interact and tightly bind heterologous proteins. A variety of antigens and enzymes have been efficiently displayed on spores of Bacillus subtilis, the model system for spore formers. Adsorption on B. subtilis spores has then been proposed as a non-recombinant approach for the development of mucosal vaccine/drug delivery vehicles, biocatalysts, bioremediation, and ...

background and objectives: the purpose of the present study was to investigate effects of various heat shock conditions and fast freezing and subsequent thawing on the viability and recovery of bacillus coagulans and bacillus subtilis as probiotic sporeformers, and also to compare spore plate and microscopic counts. materials and methods: after preparing the final suspensions of b. coagulans an...

Germination of dormant spores of Bacillus species is initiated when nutrient germinants bind to germinant receptors in spores' inner membrane and this interaction triggers the release of dipicolinic acid and cations from the spore core and their replacement by water. Bacillus subtilis spores contain three functional germinant receptors encoded by the gerA, gerB, and gerK operons. The GerA germi...

Intestinal bacteria drive the formation of lymphoid tissues, and in rabbit, bacteria also promote development of the preimmune Ab repertoire and positive selection of B cells in GALT. Previous studies indicated that Bacillus subtilis promotes B cell follicle formation in GALT, and we investigated the mechanism by which B. subtilis stimulates B cells. We found that spores of B. subtilis and othe...

Recent bioterrorism concerns have prompted renewed efforts towards understanding the biology of bacterial spore resistance to radiation with a special emphasis on the spores of Bacillus anthracis. A review of the literature revealed that B. anthracis Sterne spores may be three to four times more resistant to 254-nm-wavelength UV than are spores of commonly used indicator strains of Bacillus sub...