FIG 7.
(A to C) Analysis of the l-valine germination of individual wild-type and spoVAEa mutant B. subtilis spores. Heat-inactivated spores of strains PS533 (wild type) and PS4348 (spoVAEa mutant) were germinated with l-valine, the germination of individual spores was monitored by DIC microscopy, and various germination parameters were determined as described in Materials and Methods and illustrated in panels B and C. (A) The percent germination of >300 individual wild-type (■) and spoVAEa mutant (●) spores was monitored for 75 to 80 min. (B, C) The DIC image intensities of 13 to 16 randomly chosen wild-type (B) or spoVAEa mutant (C) spores were monitored for 75 to 80 min. The Tlag, Trelease, and Tlys values of one selected spore are shown in panels B and C. a.u., arbitrary units.