Fig. 2.

Effects of gerBC mutations on germination of spores with the wild-type background. (A) List of gerBC mutant strains grouped based on the location of the mutations (see Fig. 1). (B) Germination of wild-type and mutant spores with the wild-type (PS832) background in the presence of AGFK (10 mM [each] l-asparagine, d-glucose, d-fructose, and KCl). The percentage of DPA release of spores of each strain was normalized against the maximum RFU obtained for their l-valine-mediated germination as described in Materials and Methods. The germination curve of the spores with wild-type GerBC in the absence of germinants is shown and is used as the negative control. Data represent means ± SD for at least three independent measurements. (C) Germination of wild-type and mutant spores with the PS832 background in the presence of 10 mM l-valine. The percentages of DPA release were normalized as described in Materials and Methods, and the maximum number of RFU that each germination assay reached was set at 100%. Data are the means ± SD from at least three independent measurements. Curves are colored as in panel B. (D) Initial rates of germination of all spores. Rates were calculated as described in Materials and Methods. All values reported have been corrected for the rate of DPA release in the absence of germinants; this correction was always <0.1.