Chemically Defined, Synthetic Media for Sporulation and for Germination and Growth of Bacillus Subtilis.

Donnellan, J. Edward, Jr. (U.S. Army Natick Laboratories, Natick, Mass.), Ella H. Nags, and Hillel S. Levinson. Chemically defined, synthetic media for sporulation and for germination and growth of Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 87:332-336. 1964.-From 90 to 130 mg (dry weight) of spores (about 1% dark forms) were obtained (per liter) from a chemically defined, synthetic medium, with a two-phase (polyethylene glycol-potassium phosphate) harvest procedure. Optimal sporulation occurred when glucose and glutamic acid were at a concentration of 10 mm in the medium. Ca(++) and Mn(++) were required for sporulation. Heat resistance, dipicolinic acid content, and properties of germination and postgerminative development of spores grown in different concentrations of Ca(++) were investigated. Heat shock did not increase germination of spores derived from the synthetic medium. A synthetic medium, in which spore germination, emergence, and first cell division approached synchrony, was devised.