AND N. FINLEY. Effect of carbohydrates in phosphate buffer on germination of Bacillus stearothermophilus spores. Appl. l\Iicrobiol. 11: 453-457. 1963.-Among strains, and among spore suspensions of the same strain, different spore-germination responses were observed when spores were heated in monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides in 0.0083 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.1). It was hypothesized that these differences were due to rough and smooth variants in the spore population and to variation in the osmosensitivity of spores of variants within the population when subjected to a heat shock of 110 C. Various workers have listed an energy source (glucose) and phosphate ions, singly or in combination, as being necessary for, or having an influence on, spore germination in certain species of the genus Bacillus (Heiligman,