Role of Alanine in the Spore Germination of Bacillus Subtilis

Abstract

L-Alanine has been known to be one of the essential nutrients in the spore germination of certain bacterial species (1, 2, 3). Although the metabolic pathway of L-alanine in germinating spores has been extensively studied by several workers (4, 5), the role of this amino acid in the spore germination is still obscure. Hoshino et al. (6) employed Aspergillus niger conidia instead of bacterial spores and showed that L-alanine plays an important role in the nucleic acid metabolism in the early phase of germination. They also noticed that the fate of L-alanine is quite similar to that of CO2 in the germinating conidia (7). The present investigation was performed to compare and clarify the role of CO2, alanine and other amino acids in spore germination, employing Marburg strain of Bacillus suhtilis as the test organism. The results indicate that CO2 is not an essential factor for bacterial spore germination as it is in fungal conidia germination, and that L-alanine appears to play an important role in RNA metabolism during the processes of germination and outgrowth; during the latter process the concomitant presence of L-glutamate is required. 1 Contribution from the Tokai Regional Fisheries Research Laboratories (Contrib. No. B 433). © 1965, Applied Microbiology, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Research Foundation. All rights reserved.