32 Z. JOHN ORDAL 



the culture. I get essentially less than 1% germination, whereas cultures 

 on filter paper agar, for example, may retain their viability for quite a 

 number of months. 



SusSMAN: As another intruder in the bacterial scene, I should like to 

 bring to your attention a more famous fungus, the Neurospora, a favorite 

 laboratory animal in the botany department. In this case it turns out that 

 the method of growth of these spores determines thermal lability in terms 

 of response to activating heat treatment in two ways: it determines first 

 the amount of heat that is required for activation, which is a term I re- 

 serve for the breaking of dormancy, and second to a heat treatment of 

 shorter duration and less intensity which is required for the regeneration 

 of sensitivity to furfural, which is an activation chemical. Now both the 

 heat treatments, called heat shock by bacteriologists, and the furfural effect, 

 which applies to some thermophilic bacteria, are relevant directly to the 

 question of germination of bacterial spores. 



