Table 5. Culturability of Desulfotomaculum sp. C1A60 spores and vegetative cells, surviving pasteurisation or autoclaving based on replicate most probable number (MPN 1 and 2) estimates.

Treatment	Spore MPN 1 spore or cell count ml−1	Spore MPN 2 spore or cell count ml−1
Original spore count	4.1 × 106	4.1 × 106
Untreated MPN count A	1.1 × 106	2.9 × 104
Untreated MPN count B	1.1 × 106	1.1 × 106
Pasteurized	1.1 × 106	1.5 × 105
Single autoclave	4.6 × 104	2.9 × 103
Double autoclave	4.6 × 103	3.9 × 102
Triple autoclave	1.1 × 103	7.5 × 102
Viable spores surviving triple autoclaving	0.027%	0.018%

	Cell MPN 1 count ml−1	Cell MPN 2 count ml−1
Original cell count	7.48 × 107	7.48 × 107
Untreated MPN count A	4.6 × 103	3.9 × 103
Untreated MPN count B	3.9 × 103	2.1 × 103
Pasteurized	1.1 × 103	4.6 × 103
Single autoclave	2.4 × 102	1.1 × 103
Double autoclave	93	75
Triple autoclave	23	93
Viable cells surviving triple autoclaving	0.000%	0.000%