FIG 2.
Germination of PS533 spores (wild type) with l-valine either continuously or with various short exposures. (A) Heat-activated spores were germinated with 10 mM l-valine either continuously (◼) or for exposures of 2.5 (▲), 5.0 (•), 7.5 (◀), or 10 (▼) min followed by blocking of further commitment by method B. (B to D) DIC image intensities of ∼20 individual spores germinating with 10 mM l-valine for 2.5 (B), 5.0 (C), and 10 min (D) before blocking further commitment by method B. The DIC image intensity values at 50 min were subtracted from the intensities of images at various times and the values were normalized to the spores' intensity values at T0. In all cases, spore germination was monitored and germination parameters were determined as described in Materials and Methods, and times for Tb, Tlag, Trelease, and Tlys for a few germinating individual spores are noted in various panels. a.u., arbitrary units.