FIG. 2.

Impact of sorbic acid on B. cereus ATCC 14579 spore germination induced by chemical and physical triggers. Heat-activated spores of B. cereus ATCC 14579 were incubated in MES buffer at pH 5.5 with 3 mM HSA (gray bars) or without HSA (white bars). The following germination triggers were used: a 1:1 chelate of 50 mM calcium and dipicolonic acid (Ca-DPA) (A), high hydrostatic pressure at either 150 or 500 MPa (B), and 10 μM bryostatin (C). The germination percentages were determined by comparing the number of germinated spores with the total number of spores present in each sample. The percentage bars show the results from duplicate experiments for high hydrostatic pressure and triplicate experiments for Ca-DPA and bryostatin, respectively.