FIG. 1.

Germination of spores in Ca²⁺-DPA. Spores from strains FB72 (ger-3), FB114 (ger-3 sleB), and FB115 (ger-3 cwlJ) were incubated in water (stippled) or 60 mM Ca²⁺-DPA (solid) at an OD₆₀₀ of 1 for 45 min at room temperature, and serial dilutions were then spotted on 2×YT agar plates for titer determination. The values shown are averages of two experiments. The individual experimental values lay within 40% of the averages. The titer of ger-3 spores treated with Ca²⁺-DPA is essentially identical to that of wild-type spores plated directly.