Abstract
TWO distinct meanings have been applied to the use of the term ‘dormancy’ as applied to the bacterial endospore. First, the expression ‘the dormant bacterial endospore’ usually describes the apparent metabolic inactivity of the spore stage as compared with the vegetative cell. Secondly, the same term has been used to describe the fact that spore suspensions respond poorly or not at all to germination agents under conditions that permit rapid germination of aged1 or heat-activated2 spores. It is in the latter sense that the term dormancy is applied in this communication.
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KEYNAN, A., MURRELL, W. & HALVORSON, H. Dipicolinic Acid Content, Heat-Activation and the Concept of Dormancy in the Bacterial Endospore. Nature 192, 1211–1212 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/1921211a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1921211a0
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