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[1] [2] The name "endospore" is suggestive of a spore or seed-like form (endo means 'within'), but it is not a true spore (i.e., not an offspring). It is a stripped-down, dormant form to which the bacterium can reduce itself. Endospore formation is usually triggered by a lack of nutrients, and usually occurs in gram-positive bacteria.
The process of endospore formation has profound morphological and physiological consequences: radical post-replicative remodelling of two progeny cells, accompanied eventually by cessation of metabolic activity in one daughter cell (the spore) and death by lysis of the other (the 'mother cell').
The term sporogenesis can also refer to endospore formation in bacteria, which allows the cells to survive unfavorable conditions. Endospores are not reproductive structures and their formation does not require cell fusion or division. Instead, they form through the production of an encapsulating spore coat within the spore-forming cell.
Importantly, encystment is a process observed to precede cell division, [8] while the formation of an endospore involves non-reproductive cellular division. The study of the encystment process was mostly confined to the 1970s and '80s, resulting in the lack of understanding of genetic mechanisms and additional defining characteristics, though ...
As with other members of the genus Bacillus, it can form an endospore, to survive extreme environmental conditions of temperature and desiccation. [12] B. subtilis is a facultative anaerobe [6] [13] and had been considered as an obligate aerobe until 1998. B. subtilis is heavily flagellated, which gives it the ability to move quickly in liquids.
The endospore of one species from Morocco is reported to have survived being heated to 420 °C. [2] Endospore formation is usually triggered by a lack of nutrients: the bacterium divides within its cell wall, and one side then engulfs the other. They are not true spores (i.e., not an offspring). [3]
Endospore staining is a technique used in bacteriology to identify the presence of endospores in a bacterial sample. [1] Within bacteria, endospores are protective structures used to survive extreme conditions, including high temperatures making them highly resistant to chemicals. [ 2 ]
An endospore is a non-metabolizing survival structure that begins to metabolize and cause infection once in an adequate environment. Hence, stepping on a nail (rusty or not) may result in a tetanus infection, as the low-oxygen (anaerobic) environment may exist under the skin, and the puncturing object can deliver endospores to a suitable ...