BACTERIAL SPORES I. A STUDY IN HEAT RESISTANCE AND DORMANCY

CONTENT ALERTS Receive: RSS Feeds, eTOCs, free email alerts (when new articles cite this article), more» Information about commercial reprint orders: http://jb.asm.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml To subscribe to to another ASM Journal go to: http://journals.asm.org/site/subscriptions/ Downloaded from http://jb.asm.org/ on December 10, 2011 by deepdyve I. A STUDY IN HEAT RESISTANCE AND DORMANCY' From the Division of Bacteriology, Yale University Received for publication June 20, 1930 Our knowledge regarding the properties of , per se, has been impeded by the more or less universal impression that spores are metabolically inactive or inert. Except for occasional theories concerning spore-cycles and the like, the usual conception of spore function has been limited to ipso facto sporulation under conditions of unfavorable environment, and germination when conditions again become favorable. Some exceptions are noted in the cases of certain organisms having peculiar tendencies toward dormancy or latent germination. Spore properties, such as minimal metabolism, respiration, enzyme production and the possibility of varying degrees of pregermination stimulation have received little attention or credence. There have been isolated attempts to gain information concerning these still hypothetical properties; some of these will be discussed later. Just as studies of the intimate details of metabolism have aided greatly in other fields of biological research, so a finer comprehension of spore properties and spore function should result in material improvement and greater precision in studies of the heat resistance and dormancy of , a subject which so vitally affects various routine laboratory procedures and their industrial applications. The two strains of the organism...