An in vivo experiment was conducted to study the effects of probiotic Bacillus coagulans spores, with and without prebiotic, inulin, on gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota of healthy rats and its potentiality to survive in the GI tract. Forty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=12) and fed as follows: standard diet (control), standard diet supplied with 5% w/w long cha...

We studied the effects of combinations of Bacillus thuringiensis spores and toxins on the mortality of diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) larvae in leaf residue bioassays. Spores of B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki increased the toxicity of crystals of B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki to both resistant and susceptible larvae. For B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki, resistance ratios were 1,20...

The aim of this work is to demonstrate the role of conidial spores as a reservoir of glucose oxidase and their stability as a biocatalyst in the bioconversion reaction for the production of gluconic acid. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) was carried out in fixed-bed column bioreactor for the production of Aspergillus niger spores. Growth parameters, sporulation and kinetics of gluconic acid produ...

Introduction Spores of Bacillus and Clostridium species are metabolically dormant and extremely resistant to acute environmental stresses such as heat, desiccation, UV and γ-radiation, mechanical disruption, enzymatic digestion and toxic chemicals. In addition to the spore’s resistance to acute stress, spores can survive for extremely long periods in milder environmental conditions. Indeed, the...

No occurrence of milky disease resulted when third-instal' larvae of the Japanese beetle, Popillia iaponica, were exposed to soil containing 2 billion spores/kg of strain NRRLB-2.309l'vI of tile milky disease bacterium, Bacillus popilliae, produced on a laboratory medium, or when the larvae imbibed 200,000 of the spores of strain NRRL B-2309M in aqueous suspension; however, 24% of the larvae we...

AIMS To detect enteric microsporidia in faecal specimens from patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and to identify the spores to species level without using invasive procedures. METHODS Formalised faecal preparations were examined using a modification of the strong trichrome staining method to demonstrate microsporidian spores. Six positive specimens were prepared for ...

Dormant spores of a Bacillus subtilis mutant that lacks two major small, acid-soluble spore proteins are very sensitive to UV irradiation, which in spores generates about half the amount of thymine-containing dimers formed by comparable irradiation of vegetative cells. Irradiation of mutant spores also produces spore photoproducts, but again only about one-half the amount formed in comparably i...