1887

Abstract

Germinating spores of pass through three morphological stages: darkening, swelling and germ tube emergence. The process of germination has pH and temperature optima of 8·0 and 40 °C, respectively, and is not affected by activation treatments. Darkening, accompanied by a loss of heat resistance and refractility and a decrease in absorbance of the dormant spores, needs only energy, which can be obtained from endogenous sources, and exogenous cations. Agents that inhibit ATP formation block darkening, but inhibitors of macromolecular synthesis do not affect it. Swelling requires exogenous carbon but not nitrogen sources and is characterized by a 30 to 40% increase in spore diameter. RNA synthesis is necessary for swelling and inhibitors of protein synthesis delay this process. During this stage, maximum respiratory, cytochrome oxidase and catalase activities are reached. DNA synthesis starts at the beginning of germ tube emergence. This final stage requires both exogenous carbon and nitrogen sources and the sequence of macromolecular synthesis is RNA, protein and, finally, DNA. Rifampicin, streptomycin and mitomycin C prevent protein and DNA synthesis regardless of when added during germination. Rifampicin inhibits [H]uridine incorporation immediately but there is a delay of about 160 min in the case of streptomycin or mitomycin C.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-121-1-159
1980-11-01
2024-04-18
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/micro/121/1/mic-121-1-159.html?itemId=/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-121-1-159&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Attwell R.W., Cross T. 1973; Germination of actinomycete spores.. In The Actinomycet ales: Characteristics and Practical Importance pp. 197–207 Edited by Sykes G., Skinner F.A. London & New York: Academic Press;
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Burton K. 1956; Study of the condition and mechanism of the diphenylamine reaction for the colorimetric estimation of DNA.. Biochemical Journal 62:315–323
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Ensign J.C. 1978; Formation, properties and germination of actinomycete spores.. Annual Review of Microbiology 32:185–219
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Gould G.W. 1971; Methods for studying bacterial spores.. Methods in Microbiology 6A:327–381
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Gould G.W., Dring G.J. 1975; Heat resistance of bacterial endospores and the concept of an expanded osmoregulatory cortex.. Nature; London: 258402–405
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Hardisson C., Suárez J.E. 1979; Fine structure of spore formation and germination in Micromonospora chalcea.. Journal of General Microbiology 110:233–237
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Hardisson C., Manzanal M.B., Salas J.A., Suárez J.E. 1978; Fine structure, physiology and biochemistry of arthrospore germination in Streptomyces antibioticus.. Journal of General Microbiology 105:203–214
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Iyer V.N., Szybalsky N. 1963; A molecular mechanism of mitomycin-action linking of complementary DNA strands.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 50355–362
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Kalakoutskii L.V., Agre N.S. 1976; Comparative aspects of development and differentiation in actinomycetes.. Bacteriological Reviews 40:469–524
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Kalakoutskii L.V., Pouzharitskaja L.M. 1973; The Streptomyces spore: its distinct features and germinal behaviour.. In The Actino- mycet ales: Characteristics and Practical Importance pp. 155–178 Edited by Sykes G., Skinner F.A. London & New York: Academic Press;
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Kobayashi Y., Steinberg W., Higa A., Halvorson H.O., Levinthal C. 1965; Sequential synthesis of macromolecules during outgrowth of bacterial spores.. In Spores III pp. 200–212 Edited by Campbell L.L., Halvorson H.O. Ann Arbor, Michigan: American Society for Microbiology;
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Loperfido B., Sadoff H.L. 1973; Germination of Azotobacter vinelandii cysts: sequence of macromolecular synthesis and nitrogen fixation.. Journal of Bacteriology 113:841–846
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Mikulik K., Janda I., Maskova H., Stastna J., Jirinova A. 1977; Macromolecular synthesis accompanying the transition from spores to vegetative forms of Streptomyces granaticolor.. Folia microbiologica 22:252–261
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Schneider W.C. 1957; Determination of nucleic acids in tissues by pentose analysis.. Methods in Enzymology 3:680–689
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Steinberg W., Halvorson H.O. 1968; Timing of enzyme synthesis during outgrowth of spores of Bacillus cereus. II. Relationship between ordered enzyme synthesis and DNA replication.. Journal of Bacteriology 95:479–489
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Sussman A.S., Halvorson H.O. 1966 Spores, Their Dormancy and Germination New York Harper & Row:
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Suzuki H., Kilgore W.W. 1967; Decomposition of ribosomal particles in Escherichia coli treated with mitomycin C.. Journal of Bacteriology 94:666–676
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-121-1-159
Loading
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-121-1-159
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error