EFFECT OF SUGARS AND OTHER CARBON COMPOUNDS ON GERMINATION AND POSTGERMINATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF BACILLUS MEGATERIUM SPORES1

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Hyatt, Mildred T. (Pioneering Research Division. U.S. Army Natick Laboratories, Natick, Mass.), and Hillel S. Levinson. Effect of sugars and other carbon compounds on germination and postgerminative development of Bacillus megaterium spores. J. Bacteriol. 88:1403–1415. 1964.—A total of 77 carbon-containing compounds were tested for their ability to support germination and postgerminative development of Bacillus megaterium spores. The only effective germination agents were certain of the hexose sugars and their derivatives. With unheated spores, only d-glucose, d-mannose, 2-deoxy-d-glucose, d-glucosamine, and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (all at 25 mm) supported appreciable germination (ca. 25%). Heat-shock at 60 C for 10 min increased germination and decreased the concentration of sugar required for germination, so that these compounds, at 2.5 mm, supported 40 to 60% germination. Higher concentrations (25 mm) of other compounds, d-fructose, l-sorbose, d-allose, d-altrose, 2-hydroxyethyl-d-glucose, and β-methyl-d-glucoside, were required for appreciable germination of heated spores. Glucose or mannose contamination accounted for the germination apparently induced by certain other sugars. Ionic contamination did not appear to contribute to the germination induced by d-glucose, d-fructose, 2-deoxy-d-glucose, or l-sorbose. There was no clear-cut evidence for a multiplicity of metabolic pathways in the triggering of B. megaterium spore germination by various sugars. Postgerminative development of germinated spores was supported by a wider variety of carbon compounds, including some pentoses and hexoses, many oligosaccharides, sugar derivatives, some alcohols, and some of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates. Compounds effective for germination were not necessarily utilizable for growth, and vice versa. Oxygen consumption rates reflected the progress and extent of postgerminative development on the various carbon compounds. Utilization of glucose during postgerminative development was followed, and the concentration requirements were determined.

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