The dynamic spore

The dynamic spore.

M ost bacteria can, at least to some degree, hunker down during periods of stress and wait for good times to return. No cells, however, do this as effectively as those Bacilli and Clostridia that form spores. Dormant cells produced by these bacteria can survive most environmental challenges found on earth and even a few in outer space and can remain dormant in excess of millions of years (1, 2)...

Clostridium difficile Spore-Macrophage Interactions: Spore Survival

BACKGROUND Clostridium difficile is the main cause of nosocomial infections including antibiotic associated diarrhea, pseudomembranous colitis and toxic megacolon. During the course of Clostridium difficile infections (CDI), C. difficile undergoes sporulation and releases spores to the colonic environment. The elevated relapse rates of CDI suggest that C. difficile spores has a mechanism(s) to ...

CHAPTER 8. Morphogenesis: the Spore

The first recognizable mention of spores in the Saprolegniaceae is in Gruithuisen’s account (1821:445, pl. 38, figs. 14-16) of “seeds” in “compartments” at the ends of filaments of “Conferva” ferax. Hannover’s exposition (1842) of the nature of spores and spore discharge in a watermold was far more detailed: records of daily observations on motility, encystment, and germination. It was Unger (1...

SPORE Advances

The DNA-Repair Enzyme “Spore Photoproduct Lyase“ Repairs The Interstrand 5S-Configured Spore Photoproduct**