Concurrent Heat Activation and Suppression of
            <i>Bacillus megaterium</i>
            Spore Germination

Holmes, P. K.; Nags, Ella H.; Levinson, Hillel S.

doi:10.1128/jb.90.3.827-828.1965

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Many investigators have analyzed the effects of heat treatment on the germination response of the spores of various species and strains (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Effects of heat (i) on the dormant state prior to germination, (ii) on the trigger reaction of germination, and (iii) on the later events during germination are discussed below.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Disappearance of the Cooperative Effect of Glucose on L‐Alanine Binding during Heat Activation of Germination of Bacillus subtilis Spores

Yasuda

Tochikubo

1985

Microbiology and Immunology

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Sublethal preheating of bacterial spores has been used to stimulate their germination. This treatment is known as "heat activation" or "heat shock." In our germination experiments of spores of Bacillus subtilis PCI219 (18-23), a sufficient and reproducible germination rate could be obtained with L-alanine and its analogs without preheating, and the heated spores required higher concentrations of Lalanine to germinate than the unheated spores in the presence of glucose. In the present study we examined the effect of heat treatment on the germination response, especially on the sites for the germinant and related compounds in the alanine receptor field of the spores (22). We found that heat treatment at 65 C for 30 min did not alter the binding sites for L-alanine, D-alanine, and the hydrophobic compounds, but it did affect the binding site for glucose. The results are described in some detail as follows.Actually, heat treatment of the spores of B. subtilis at various temperatures altered the germination rate (Fig. 1). At a sufficient concentration (1 mm) of L-alanine (21) the maximum germination rate was obtained by preheating at around 65 C for 30 min with or without glucose. The maximum germination rate of heated spores on L-alanine (Fig. 1A) or L-alanine plus glucose (Fig. 1B) was about 1.4 times more than that of the respective unheated ones, showing the heat activation. Heating at 70 C and higher temperatures caused a rapid decrease in germination rate. However, at lower concentrations of L-alanine only a little stimulation of the rate was observed between 50 and 60 C with L-alanine alone (Fig. 1A), and the germination rate decreased gradually as the preheating temperature in creased with L-alanine plus glucose (Fig. 1B). Germinability on glucose alone was not significant (Fig. 1B). These different responses of the germination rate to temperature indicated the complex effects of preheating.Preheating spores at 65 C for 30 min, a condition at which the maximum germination rate was obtained, was used in subsequent experiments. In the concentration-germination response curves the level of the maximum germination rate of heated spores in the absence of glucose was higher than that of unheated ones, but the apparent affinities of both spores for L-alanine, which were determined as the concentration of L-alanine showing 50 % of the maximum rate of each curve, were 101 1

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confidence: 99%

Disappearance of the Cooperative Effect of Glucose on L‐Alanine Binding during Heat Activation of Germination of Bacillus subtilis Spores

Yasuda

Tochikubo

1985

Microbiology and Immunology

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“…The germination properties of bacterial spores can be modified without loss of viability by treatment with various agents (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)15). We found previously ( 13) that treatment of spores with TCA caused marked reduction in germinability and in resistance to chemicals or heat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When B. cereus spores were heated at pH 1 for more than 20 min, they rapidly lost their ability to germinate with L-alanine plus adenosine but were still able to grow on a rich medium (9). Holmes et al (7) suggested that this might be because some spore component that is essential for germination induced by these two compounds is heat sensitive at extremely low pH values.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delayed Germination of Bacillus cereus T Spores after Treatment with Trichloroacetic Acid and Their Reactivation by Heating

Shibata

Murakami

Tani

1980

Microbiology and Immunology

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Curran and Evans (3) found that dormant spores could be activated by heat treatment. Since then various treatments, such as exposure to water vapor (8), aqueous ethanol 8), and extreme pE values 9, 15), have been Youna to achvate spores. These treatments, however, are also known to cause suppression of germination of spores without loss of viability. For example, spores of Clostridium perfringens were inactivated by heat (2, 4) or by alkali (4). Bacillus cereus spores, when heated at low pH, rapidly lost their germinating ability (9). In addition, Holmes and Levinson (6) demonstrated that ethanol-activated spores of Bacillus megaterium were deactivated by absolute alcohol.We are interested in the influence of organic acids, such as trichloroacetic acid (TCA), on germination. It is known that hexosamine can be extracted from spore integuments by TCA at high temperature (16), but little is known about the actual effects of TCA on intact bacterial spores. We found that treatment of B. cereus spores with TCA prevented initiation of their germination (13). The present paper describes studies on the effect of various conditions of TCA treatment on germination of B. cereus spores and reversal of the effect by heat. Studies on the effects of TCA analogues on germination are also described and the relation of the structure of chemicals to their ability to lower the rate of germination of spores is discussed.

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The Destruction of Bacterial Spores

Russell¹

1971

Inhibition and Destruction of the Microbial Cell

109

140

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Concurrent Heat Activation and Suppression of Bacillus megaterium Spore Germination

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Disappearance of the Cooperative Effect of Glucose on L‐Alanine Binding during Heat Activation of Germination of Bacillus subtilis Spores

Disappearance of the Cooperative Effect of Glucose on L‐Alanine Binding during Heat Activation of Germination of Bacillus subtilis Spores

Delayed Germination of Bacillus cereus T Spores after Treatment with Trichloroacetic Acid and Their Reactivation by Heating

The Destruction of Bacterial Spores

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