The Effect of Hypochlorite on the Germination of Spores of Clostridium bifermentans

SUMMARY: Spores of Clostridium bifermentans are more sensitive to chlorine, added as sodium hypochlorite, than spores of other Clostridia or of Bacillus subtilis (Dye & Mead, 1972). Spores of C. bifermentans or B. subtilis, damaged with chlorine, release dipicolinic acid (Dye & Mead, 1972; Alderton & Halbrook, 1971) and may therefore have increased permeability. We have isolated mutants of C. bifermentans which germinate more slowly than the parent strain, possibly because of reduced permeability to germinants (Wyatt & Waites, 1971). In view of these findings and the frequent use of chlorine as a disinfectant, we examined the effect of hypochlorite on the germination of mutant and parent spores.