Ions and the Germination of Spores of Bacillus cereus T

Abstract

DETAILED experimental analysis of the two major types of aerobic bacterial spores, namely, strains of Bacillus megaterium which respond germinatively to the presence of glucose or an L-alanine–inosine mixture¹, have been completed^2,3. Both organisms exhibited a non-specific requirement for ions, either inorganic or organic, for germination. In solutions of appropriate salts, the exogenous requirements for the above-mentioned organic compounds could be varied, and even eliminated altogether. The over-riding factor in the germination of these two types is ions. We proposed that many ions are intrinsically germinative for these organisms, that the organic adjuvants (glucose, L-alanine, inosine) are dependent on salts for maximal germinative powers, and that they augment the germinative capacity of ions³. This situation we call ‘ionic germination’.