FIG. 3.

Germination efficiency of wild-type and mutant spores. Spores produced by a wild type (wt), as well as by tasA, gerE, and gerE tasA mutants, were purified, and the kinetics of germination were examined. Germination was induced by l-alanine in GFK, as previously described (27), and monitored by the decrease in OD₆₀₀ of the spore suspension. The efficiency of germination is defined as the ratio between the optical density of the culture at a given time after exposure to the germinant mixture and the original optical density of the suspension.