FIG. 1.

Association of spores to BEC. (A) BEC were incubated with either Ames wild-type (MOI of 32 to 50 spores for one BEC) or bclA mutant spores (MOI of 21 to 47 spores for one BEC) for 1 h. Following this incubation, the cells were washed and lysed and the bacteria were plated upon LB agar plates. The percent recovery of spores was determined by dividing the number of CFU counts from the lysed cells by the number of spores added. The difference between spore types associated with the BEC was significant (P = 0.0005). Error bars represent the standard errors of the means from three independent experiments. (B and C) Micrographs of spores associated with BEC. Samples were stained with spore stain (malachite green) and counterstained with a Wright-Giemsa stain. (B) Ames spores (indicated by white arrows) with BEC. (C) bclA mutant spores with BEC.