Publication at Faculty of Science |
2012
Abstract
The separation of vegetative cells from spores coexisting in Bacillus subtilis stationary phase cultures is a key step when studying both of the subpopulations. Lysozyme treatment was used for breaking down the vegetative cells.
Unaffected spores were sedimented and separated by centrifugation. Characterization of the cell-free supernatant showed that it represents membrane and cytoplasmic fractions and, thus, can readily be used for determining their biochemical and microbiological properties.
The separation efficacy, selectivity and suitability of the method were verified by observation in microscope, CFU counting, and by analysis of the phospholipid composition as well.