UV sensitivity of germinating culture ofBacillus cereus

The spores ofBacillus cereus can be germinated in reasonable synchrony in rich media. The survival of germinating cells after UV irradiation is strongly affected by repair. When plating on mineral agar a linear decrease of survival is obtained between 20–60 min of germination, whereas the survival on nutrient agar shows only minor fluctuations. The difference in survival on these two media which reached 1–2 orders of magnitude is due mostly to the shape of the shoulder on the survival curve. Survival on mineral agar may be increased by postincubation in complex media or by preincubation in mineral media. It was concluded that repression and derepression of biosynthetic pathways was responsible for the different efficiency of repair.