FIG. 2.

Influence of various factors on B. cereus strain 11 spore germination-inducing capacity of Caco-2 cell culture supernatant. The gray bars indicate total counts, and the open bars indicate spore counts. Bars a, total counts and spore counts of strain 11 used in the experiments at time zero; bars b and c, counts of adhered B. cereus after 1 h of incubation with (bars b) and without (bars c) Caco-2 cells; bars d and e, total and spore counts of adhered B. cereus after 1 h of incubation with Caco-2 cell culture supernatant (bars d) and after 1 h of incubation with supernatant preincubated with B. cereus strain 11 spores (bars e); bars f and g, total and spore counts after incubation for 1 h with heat-treated (bars f) and pancreatin-treated (bars g) Caco-2 cell culture supernatant.